I thought I would throw in some personal thoughts about the recent developments surrounding John Edwards candidacy and the disclosure that his wife’s cancer has returned.

First to the topic of a recent interview with Katie Couric on this weekends 60 Minutes program on CBS. Couric, whose husband died of cancer and left her with two children whose ages are similar to the Edwards children, asked very frank and difficult questions of both John & Elizabeth Edwards over whether their decision to continue the campaign was putting politics above family.

There has been a lot of flak over whether Couric crossed an imaginary line. Of course she did not and John Edwards acknowledged that such questions should be welcomed. In reality Edwards and his wife will face much larger scrutiny if he does secure the nomination when the Republican Party will dish out everything they can to defeat him. As for Couric herself I find the criticism rather sexist, to be honest.

Couric regularly receives criticism (from people like me) that she doesn’t ask tuff questions and that she is on the verge of bringing “fluff news” to a network agency. Many of the people who made that charge are now the same people saying she crossed a line. I do have to believe, in my own opinion of course, that if a male anchor asked the same he would not be charged with the same criticism.

Second on the topic of Edward’s running I believe we shouldn’t forget that the Edwards family is not treading through unchartered territory. No one knows the real extent of Ms. Edwards condition and one can only guess as to how many years she has left in her life. Because of the statistics surrounding cancer one can assume that most Americans, myself included, have known someone with the disease and know that one can live many productive years even with a terminal prognosis. We also know that it can be a very painful and horrible thing to suffer through not just for the patient but the family.

Yes their situation is unique in its time and place but the presidency and the office of the First Lady has not been without the plague of disease and death. These obstacles have often shaped campaigns (not just for the presidency but in all levels of government), administrations and the personal lives of our leaders. Here are a few examples:

- Martha Jefferson, wife to the future president, spent many years gravely ill. Jefferson curtailed his political ambitions for a time tending to her and turning down positions such as commissioner to France in the Continental Congress. After her death he spent many years distraught and depressed. When he became president he had been a widower for 19 years.

- Hannah Van Buren died of tuberculosis in 1819, her Husband President Martin Van Buren never remarried and in 1836 he won election to the presidency.

- Letitia Tyler had become an invalid two years before her husband became president. John Tyler ascended to the presidency quite unexpectedly, serving as Vice President he ascended after William Henry Harrison died thirty days into his term. When the Tyler’s came to office they did so not expecting to have to bare the burden of the presidency. During their stay she made only one public appearance, at an official White House function which was a wedding for her younger sister-in-law.

- Abigail Fillmore despite her chronically bad health, stayed near her husbands side through the outdoor ceremonies of President Pierce’s inauguration after which she developed pneumonia and died on March 30, 1853.

- Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur died of pneumonia while her husband Chester Arthur was Vice President. She passed 20 months before her husband ascended to the presidency at which time he was still mourning her death. During his star at the White House he refused to let anyone occupy the place that would have been hers.

- Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison wife of President Benjamin Harrison died of tuberculosis at the White House in October 1892.

- Edith Wilson suffered from Bright’s disease and died in the White House on August 6, 1914. Her husband remarried. He then suffered a stroke which left him disabled. His new wife took over many of the routine aspects of the presidency and resisted allowing the Vice President’s ascension.

In addition to these examples many First Ladies suffered illness and disease that was not fatal and unfortunately many suffered miscarriages and the loss of children before, during and after their stays in the White House. As said the presidency has not always been kind to the families of those who hold the office and in our age of nuclear proliferation and War, not to mention a 24/7 intrusive media the stress of the office is almost incalculable.

Elections themselves are often very bitter things. In the election of 1828 Andrew Jackson successfully attained the presidency after losing a bitter campaign in 1825 to John Quincy Adams. During the campaign in 1828 it came out (from those in favor of re-electing John Quincy) that Jackson’s wife Rachel was still legally married to Captain Lewis Robards when she married Jackson.

Robards returned to Rachel’s life and filed for a divorce after her marriage. She and Jackson remarried making their bond legal but when it was revealed to 19th century America it became a scandal and a sore spot for Jackson who fought at least one duel over the ordeal.

The press mercilessly went after Rachel claiming adultery. Two weeks after the election was won Rachel died never having the opportunity to serve as First Lady. Jackson held Quincy and his party responsible for her death and it can be argued this event helped shape his presidency.

I hope the best for Elizabeth Edwards and with medical technology on her side she could survive the entire campaign and if her husband is elected could hopefully live throughout his presidency. Even if she does though the stress of the office on her husband, her family and herself will be great. Repeatedly during their statement I heard both Edward’s say that they will treat tomorrow as they do today.

I cannot possibly imagine how that will be possible.