Part: 12         Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536         Page 682683684685686687688689690691692693694695696697698699703704705706707708709710711712713714715716717 of 1143

I believe you want to continue your story of health insurance. You began this particular chapter on October 3rd and this is the second instalment.

This section should be entitled “The Effort to Get a Presidential Health Commission Established,” starting in 1951.

Early in 1951 while I was in California at La Cinta with Albert I tried to consider what could best be done to put energy into the President's health program and to give battle to the AMA. The AMA was flying high, wide and handsome with lies and distortions about everything that the President's program had proposed. They were spending, as I have said, a large amount of money and had a very clever and active staff of people effectively spreading these distortions in national magazines and medical magazines.

They had been successful in attacking a number of liberal candidates, such as Senator Thomas of Utah, who was defeated. They also attributed to Senator Graham of North Carolina an interest in health insurance which he did not have and he was defeated.

Their efforts were a considerable factor in this?

Yes, they organized on local levels and doctors and