Political secrets, social media and the press

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Hillary Clinton's health scare has put a spotlight on transparency -- or lack of transparency -- in this campaign. Both candidates have been accused of holding back information on everything from medical records to -- in Donald Trump's case -- tax returns. But with the Internet, camera cell phones, and social media can politicians really keep anything secret?

First her cough grabbed headlines. Then the collapse. Until these images took hold, Clinton was able to keep her pneumonia diagnosis from the media for two whole days. That is quite a coup considering the intense scrutiny both Clinton and Trump are under.

We don't have to look back very far to find a time when a public figure like the president successfully kept his health issues private.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously hid his infantile paralysis from public view by never being photographed in a wheel chair.

President John F. Kennedy suffered from Addison's disease but most didn't know anything about that until after his death.

President Woodrow Wilson also kept his health problems a secret.

The trusting relationship between the press and the president changed after the Vietnam War and Watergate. It marked the beginning more intense scrutiny of those in public office.

Not only it is unlikely candidates would get away for too long with hiding anything seriously wrong, the American public wouldn't want it any other way.