Tony's Diary Package — page 151

Fauci's current national stature indeed appears unique in U.S. history, says historian Douglas Brinkley of Rice University in Houston, citing past examples that fall short. In the late 1700s, a yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia caused President George Washington to flee the city, leaving in charge the preeminent doctor and fellow Founding Father, Benjamin Rush. When President Woodrow Wilson got sick while visiting Paris during World War I, many scholars believe his physician and his wife were running the country for a spell. "So you have moments when doctors have become the voice of the country, but nothing like this," says Brinkley. "The straight talking Fauci is what you want to hear, much like if you go to a doctor you don't want spin or blarney."