5 takeaways from Dr. Anthony Fauci’s new memoir
Donald Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci at a White House coronavirus task force briefing, April 22, 2020. (Jabin Botsford/Washington Post via Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump thought the coronavirus would “go away like magic” and rebuked him for saying it wouldn’t. Former President George H. W. Bush offered him the job of head of the National Institutes of Health, but he declined the offer. Former President Barack Obama banned him from writing a New York Times op-ed about ending the AIDS epidemic because it was “off message.”
These are just some of what has been revealed.”On Call: The Doctor’s Journey into Public ServiceDr. Anthony Fauci’s new memoir published Tuesday.
In it, the country’s former top infectious disease expert, now 83, recounts how he helped guide the country through two major public health crises: AIDS and COVID-19.
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Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has served under seven presidents, including Trump and Biden. He also served as Biden’s chief medical advisor. he He steps down from both positions in 2022.
Fauci also describes his upbringing as the child of Italian immigrants in Brooklyn, taking readers through his six-decade career as a physician and public servant.
But it was his tenure under Trump, with whom he often clashed over the US response to the pandemic, that made Fauci a household name — and a bogeyman for far-right conspiracy theorists.
Here are five takeaways from Fauci’s new memoir.
Trump shouted at Fauci for saying Covid vaccines were only effective for up to one year
Trump with Fauci after a briefing with members of the Coronavirus Task Force in 2020. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Fauci writes that on June 3, 2020, three months into the pandemic, Trump “started yelling at me” for saying the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines would only last six months to a year.
According to Fauci, Trump was angry that booster doses would likely be needed after the initial vaccines are rolled out.
“It was quite the phone call,” Fauci recalls in the book. “The president was angry, saying I couldn’t keep doing this to him. He said he loved me, but the country was in trouble, and I was making it worse.”
“I have very thick skin,” he adds. “But getting yelled at by the President of the United States, no matter how much he tells you he loves you, is no fun.”
In his last call with Fauci, Trump predicted that he would win the 2020 election by a landslide
Trump strongly criticized Fauci for warning that the Covid-19 vaccine may only be effective for six months. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
On November 1, 2020, just days before the presidential election, Trump called Fauci from Air Force One to tell him that he would not fire him despite pressure from his supporters to do so.
“Everyone wants me to fire you, but I’m not going to fire you. You have a very illustrious career,” Trump said, according to Fauci. “But you have to be positive. The country cannot remain closed. You have to give them hope.
“I like you,” Trump continued, according to Fauci’s memoirs. “But a lot of people, not just in the White House, but across the country, hate you for what you do.”
In the same call, Trump spoke about “that motherfucker” Joe Biden.
“I will win this election by a landslide,” Trump said. “And that fucking Biden. He’s so stupid. “I will kick his fucking ass in this election.”
Fauci rejected George H.W. Bush’s offer to become head of the National Institutes of Health
Fauci at the White House, April 22, 2020. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
In 1989, Fauci rejected an offer from then-President George H.W. Bush to become head of the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s largest health agency.
But because Fauci enjoyed working as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Laboratory of Immune Regulation and did not want a job with overwhelming administrative responsibilities, he turned it down.
“Mr. President, I believe I can serve you and the country better if I stay where I am,” Mr. Fauci recalled telling Bush in the Oval Office.
On his way out, then-White House Chief of Staff John Sununu smiled and said, “You son of a bitch,” Fauci recalled. “No one says no to the president.”
Fauci frustrated by ‘Washington facts’
GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia points to a photo of Fauci being questioned during a hearing on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, on June 3. (Chip Somodevila/Getty Images)
Fauci generally praises his bosses, from Reagan to Biden, but has often been troubled by “the depressing realities of Washington, D.C.,” that is, partisan politics getting in the way of public health initiatives.
Fauci writes that, under President George W. Bush, he wanted the administration to make a major push in the fight against tuberculosis and malaria, and called on Bush to include these efforts in his final State of the Union address. (Fauci recalls that malaria was mentioned but without a call for funding. Tuberculosis was not discussed at all.)
During the Obama administration, Fauci pushed for a new initiative aimed at creating an “AIDS-free generation,” even calling for a New York Times op-ed on the possibility of ending the AIDS pandemic. But an Obama White House official noted that Fauci’s draft included a call for funding and asked him to withdraw the submission because it was “off message.”
Fauci received numerous death threats, including a letter containing white powder
Alex Wong/Getty Images
As a result of his public clashes with Trump, Fauci has received numerous death threats. In the book, he details a particularly disturbing incident in August 2021 when he opened a letter containing a white powder with a chilling message.
“MANDATORY CLOSURE,” it was written in capital letters. “Reap what you sow. Enjoy your gift.”
Subsequent tests found the powder to be harmless, but for several hours, Fauci worried he had been exposed to a deadly poison.
“I am not afraid of death,” Fauci writes. “But I wasn’t ready to leave this earth yet. Not by a long shot.”