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Mary LaskerMary Lasker
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shocked. He held a meeting up at Columbia when he was President of Columbia. My husband, and Conant and Griswold, of Yale, and various other people were there, and my husband said, “In addition to raising voluntary funds, don't you think that we should try to get a bill and get substantial federal funds, General Eisenhower?” and he said, “No,” and he thought it was terrible.

Q:

Was this at the point when he was becoming a candidate?

Lasker:

Yes, just before. It was probably in '48 or '49. But it was a very curious attitude for anyone whose whole health care and education had been paid for out of federal funds.

No, to go back to the fiscal '56 appropriations bill. In the House John Fogarty was Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee again, and the bill had passed with only a very small increase, of 750 thousand dollars, and this reflected that temporary moment when John Fogarty was showing that he wasn't going to do very much more about research at that time.

Q:

That was when there had been some deflection of interest.

Lasker:

That's right. This later was resolved, and you will see that he has become one of the greatest advocates that there has ever been for medical research.





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