Complex sentence: Through most of his adult life he suffered from bipolar disorder, and in his darker moments he tended towards alcoholism and frequently'disappeared' from view for days at a time, leaving the government without its head.
Split into simpler sentences: Through most of his adult life he suffered from a manic-depressive personality disorder. But in his darker moments he tended towards alcoholism and frequently'disappeared' from view for days at a time, leaving the government without its head.