Health of Abraham Lincoln

This article is part of a series about Abraham Lincoln
Personal Early life and career Family Health Sexuality Political Political career, 1849–1861 Lincoln–Douglas debates Cooper Union speech Farewell address Views on slavery Views on religion Electoral history 16th President of the United States Presidency First term Transition 1st inauguration Address Hannibal Hamlin American Civil War The Union Emancipation Proclamation Ten percent plan Gettysburg Address 13th Amendment Second term 2nd inauguration Address Andrew Johnson Reconstruction Presidential elections 1860 Convention 1864 Convention Assassination and legacy Assassination Funeral Historical reputation Memorials Depictions Bibliography Topical guide
v t e

Abraham Lincoln's health has been the subject of both contemporaneous commentary and subsequent hypotheses by historians and scholars. Until middle age, his health was fairly good for the time. He contracted malaria in 1830 and 1835; the latter was the worse of the two cases. He contracted smallpox in 1863 during an 1863 to 1864 epidemic in Washington, D.C.

Throughout his life he experienced periods of depression, which could have been genetic, due to life experiences or trauma, or both. Lincoln took blue mass pills, which contained mercury. Based on his behavior and physical condition while taking the pills and after he quit taking them, Lincoln may have suffered from mercury poisoning. It has been theorized that Lincoln had Marfan syndrome or Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B, both rare genetic diseases.