A Brief History of AWOL Officials

The disappearance of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin brings to mind other instances of senior officials going AWOL:

In March 2004, Attorney General John Ashcroft was hospitalized, leaving deputy attorney general James Comey in charge. Comey was poised to rule against the White House on the legality of a post-9/11 surveillance program, so White House Chief of Staff Andy Card and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales went to George Washington Hospital to get Ashcroft to overrule Comey. Comey, however, got wind of it and went to the hospital to prevent it from happening.

In 1965, during the Watts riots, Lyndon Johnson was unavailable as domestic policy advisor Joe Califano desperately tried to reach him from Washington. Califano later noted that it was the only time that he found the telephone-obsessed Johnson unreachable.

On July 1, 1893, President Grover Cleveland had secret surgery to remove a tumor from his mouth. The White House never informed the press about the surgery, and Cleveland went on a boat for the surgery to maintain the secret.

In September 1955, President Dwight Eisenhower had a heart attack while on vacation in Colorado. He stayed in the hospital for seven weeks while he recovered.

The Austin incident as well as these other historical events are reminiscent of Phil Silvers’ famous joke at the 1954 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Silvers looked at the assembled dignitaries and said, “My goodness, who’s minding the store?” The audience erupted in laughter and a CBS executive in the audience thought Silvers was so funny that he offered him a TV show afterwards.