Historian Mark K.

(AP Photo, File)WASHINGTON – Throughout American history, an uncomfortable truth has been evident: Presidents have lied about their health. But with an election coming on, Roosevelt and the White House staff issued a statement saying the problem was far less serious. The first known instance of a so-called pool reporter inside the White House was in 1881 when James A. Garfield was shot. As he lay in bed, Associated Press reporter Franklin Trusdell sat outside the president's sick room, listening to him breathe and sharing updates with other correspondents. “I listen for every sound,” Trusdell wrote to his wife in a note about his overnight Garfield watch at the White House.