Here is a guy we should all know but most of us don’t know him. I like to call him our nation’s doctor. From Aids to Ebola, Dr. Anthony Fauci from the National Institute of Health has been on top the potential health disasters and kept us informed. This doctor has been in for 30 years overseeing our nation’s health. We are in a time where Washington politicians can’t seem to agree on anything one thing they do agree on is the work ethic of this man who has been awarded by Presidents throughout the years from both sides of the political spectrum.

He has worked at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health for 31 years.  His job is to rally government when sickness becomes a public health crisis. Everyone stops all their personal opinions about everything when health is in danger; and then we as a country rally together putting all our other differences aside. The Ebola epidemic in West Africa gave all Americans a sense of fear here. He will sound the alarm but he always manages to not start hysteria because he is a scientist able to explore solutions. Back in 1988 our first George Bush was asked to name his hero’s in a Presidential Debate and he mentioned Dr. Fauci and applauded his work on controlling the Aids crisis.

In 1980 when he just got his job there were massive protests that all of a sudden named him for not doing enough to stop the Aids epidemic. Instead of just keeping the protesters away from him he invited them in to discussion groups on how to manage the health issues. He then helped to change rules that would accept drugs that would quickly change Aids from being   a deadly epidemic to being a manageable disease.  Even the Aids protesters now think he is the greatest guy. Several Presidents have asked him to lead the entire National Institute of Health from Bush to Clinton to   Obama.

Part of his success is that throughout the years he has been a hands on doctor and not just a figure head of a department. He has done research into every infectious disease crisis in America since 1984. He took care of the woman nurse who had the first contact with Ebola in this country. When she left the hospital after nine days Dr. Fauci declared her cured. The walls of his office are filled with honor declarations. He received the Medal of Freedom from George Bush the son for helping to control Aids in Africa.  His coat rack is draped in the scarves of honorary degrees from 39 Universities.

He puts in 14 hour days Saturday’s included. He met his wife at work who was a nurse who is now a bio-ethicist. She loves that he is able to make some of the most terrible things in the world become understandable to people and reassure the public that somehow we will get through this crisis and unbelievably he always does. Looking forward, Dr. Fauci would like to develop vaccines for tuberoses’ and malaria. He would like to develop an Aids vaccine that would move that disease from manageable to preventable. Dr. Anthony Fauci does not get burnt out but he gets invigorated with each and every day moving forward in research and applications to prevent disaster.