Thomas C. Reeves: A Question of Character-A Life of John F. Kennedy 295
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Later research revealed that during the fall of 1961, Dr. Travell was giving the president two or three injections of procaine, a local anesthetic, daily. (Jack had been enduring these painful injections for several years. At one point, he sent his pal Red Fay to Dr. Travell for the same shot and telephoned the physician to see if Fay cried or screamed.)58 Other phySicians near Kennedy became alarmed, and in October an orthopedic surgeon who used physical therapy extensively was brought to the White House He found Kennedy "completely unrehabilitated" and in pain. Daily therapy followed, and the president's condition improved somewhat. Kennedy had the treatments take place in the gymnasium in order to appear to be regular workouts. Dr. Travell was quietly taken off the case. she retained her title, however; Jack would not fire her for fear of what she might tell reporters about his true medical history.59

To buoy him up on his European journey, Jack secretly recruited Dr. Max Jacobson to join his entourage. The New York-based Jacobson was known among numerous celebrities as "Dr. Feelgood" for his willingness to inject amphetamines (laced with such things as steroids and animal cells) into wealthy clients. "Speed" was then thought to be harmless and was frequently used by entertainers. Singer Eddie Fisher, a regular customer, said of Jacobson after he lost his medical license, "He's still my God."

Jack had first been introduced to Jacobson by his friend Chuck Spalding in the fall of 1960, a week after the speech in Houston on church and state. After his first shot much of Jack's weariness and pain seemed to vanish. Soon he and Jackie were using the physician's services on a regular basis. The Kennedys took injections not only throughout the European trip but for the balance of the Thousand Days, using Jacobson's services at least once a week and sometimes as often as three and four times weekly. At one point Jack tried unsuccessfully to persuade Jacobson to move into the White House. According to evidence amassed by C. David Heymann, including Jacobson's unpublished autobiography, the president and first lady ''had developed a strong dependence on amphetamines" by the summer of 1961.6ø

Ruth Mosse, a nurse who worked for the European-born Jacobson
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during part of the Kennedy administration, later described her employer as "absolutely a quack" and told of the unscientific way he concocted the ingredients added to "speed":
Max was totally off the wall. When he gave an injection he would just spill the contents of his medical bag on the table and rummage around amid a jumble of unmarked bottles and nameless chemicals until he found what he was looking for.... Max was out of his mind. He would see 30 patients or more a day. He worked 24 hours a day. sometimes for days on end He was a butcher. Blood was splattered all over his whites. That's why when they came to pick him up for Jackie, we would make him change. And because he was injecting himself with the stuff, his speech often became slurred. It was difficult to understand him at times. My father, who was a psychiatrist, made me quit the job because he feared that Max might begin to inject me.6'
Bobby was suspicious of Jacobson and tried to discourage his brother from taking the injections Chuck Spalding (who had broken with Jacobson) and several others in Kennedy's inner circle were of the same mind. At Bobby's urging Jack agreed to submit all of his medications to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for analysis When the FDA reported that Jacobson's medications contained amphetamines and steroids, Jack declared, "I don't care if it's horse piss. It works." When Jacobson wrote a letter of resignation and presented it to the president, Jack laughed, tore it up, and exclaimed, "That's out of the question Is During every major crisis he faced, including the Soviet missiles in Cuba, Jack summoned Dr. Jacobson to administer shots.62

Writer Truman Capote, another Jacobson client, later described the amphetamine treatment as one of "instant euphoria":
You feel like Superman. You're flying. Ideas come at the speed of light. You go 72 hours straight without so much as a coffee break. You don't need sleep, you don't need nourishment. If it's sex you're after, you go all night. Then you crash-it's like falling down a well, like parachuting without a parachute.
It was reckless, if understandable, of Kennedy to become dependent on Jacobson's shots. The amphetamines, while alleviating pain, might have modified his decision-making faculties, endangering the nation and the world. Even first-time users, experts said later, are often restless, confused, and aggressive. Many individuals experience an exaggerated sense of personal power. Although we may never know the effects of Jacobson's chemicals on Kennedy's decision making, it is clear that the president placed his constituents at risk by taking them.
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Then, too, the president was gambling with his personal health. Kennedy photographer Mark Shaw, who saw Jacobson regularly, later died at forty-seven. An autopsy showed his body to be filled with amphetamine residue. Jacobson blamed the death on a faulty heart, later on a blow to the head. The medical examiner ruled out both explanations. Other Jacobson patients also suffered from the doctor's treatments. Amphetamines. used over a long period in medium-to-large doses, have produced paranoia, schizophrenia, memory loss, hallucinations, and similar reactions, to say nothing of dependency.

Jack might have examined Jacobson's credentials-he was not a member of the American Medical Association or linked with any conventional hospital. He might have listened to Bobby or Chuck Spalding, or paid attention to the FDA's findings. Instead he opted for pain relief and "instant euphoria.'' It is sad, in retrospect, to realize that some of the "vigor'' Jack so proudly possessed was chemically induced.63