Remarks on Presenting Awards of the American Heart Association

DR. WALTER B. FROMMEYER. Mr. President, as president of the American Heart Association, I bring you greetings from the officers and members of the Association.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you very much. We are delighted to be here.

DR. FROMMEYER. Mrs. Nixon, it is a pleasure to meet you.

You know, Mr. President, that today we are combining two of the traditional White House events. One has to do with the presentation of the Distinguished Volunteer Service Award of the American Heart Association, this to be conferred by Mrs. Nixon, the Nation's First Lady; and the other award is the Heart of the Year Award, which is to be conferred by you, Mr. President, as President of the United States.

Now regarding the first award, Mrs. Nixon, I would like to tell you briefly what this entails.

Each year the American Heart Association selects an outstanding heart volunteer. And this award, not only being an honor to this individual, also pays homage to the more than 2 million heart volunteers in this Nation who will be distributing educational literature and receiving contributions to the Heart Fund this coming weekend, which is Heart Sunday weekend, February 23.

Our recipient for this year is Dr. Paul Dudley White of Boston, Massachusetts, whom we would like to honor in this regard.

As a physician, as a teacher, as an author, and as a research worker, Dr. White has done much to inspire the people of our Nation to volunteer their services to the American Heart Association and to the Heart Fund.

Mrs. Nixon, as the First Lady of our land, the Heart Association would be grateful to you if you would present the Distinguished Volunteer Service Award for 1969 of the American Heart Association to that distinguished and lovable Dr. Paul Dudley White.

Mrs. NIXON. It is certainly my pleasure to present this Distinguished Service Award to you, Dr. White, and to just tell you that I am among the millions that worked with you and for you; and heart is really our goal in many ways.

It is my pleasure now to present this.

DR. WHITE. Thank you very much, Mrs. Nixon, Dr. Frommeyer.

THE PRESIDENT. Would you like to respond, Dr. White?

DR. WHITE. No. [Laughter]

THE PRESIDENT. Usually Dr. White is not at a loss for words, I can assure you.

DR. WHITE. I would like to remind you, incidentally, of our association in 1954 when you addressed the first assembly of the Second World Congress of Cardiology in Constitution Hall in September of that year, little realizing that a year later we would be together again in Denver.

It is a great pleasure to be here to thank Mrs. Nixon and Dr. Frommeyer for this award, which I accept in honor of the many millions of volunteers who are working so hard for this cause.

We have a lot to do still to control this epidemic which has seized upon the country, and I am sure we can do it with your help.

Thank you.

DR. FROMMEYER. Thank you, Dr. White.

And now, Mr. President, we come to the other award. And, as you know, each year the American Heart Association designates a distinguished individual to receive its Heart of the Year Award.

This particular award is given to an individual who has made important contributions to society, notwithstanding a history of cardiovascular disease. The award, itself, emphasizes the fact that heart disease and stroke are not necessarily barriers to achievement.

The 1969 recipient for the Heart of the Year Award is the distinguished Dr. Irvine H. Page of Cleveland, Ohio, one of the world's leading medical scientists.

I think Dr. Page, Mr. President, rather perfectly exemplifies the purpose of this award. After having suffered an acute coronary heart attack in 1967, Dr. Page, when he recovered, completed his mission as chief of the National Diet-Heart Study.

In the meantime, he continued on with his many vital research activities.

Now, Mr. President, may I ask that you act on behalf of the American Heart Association in conferring the Association's Heart of the Year Award for 1969 on Dr. Irvine H. Page?

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you very much.

Dr. Page, if you will step up here so that all of these cameras can see you.

I am very honored to make this presentation to Dr. Irvine Page of the National Heart of the Year Award, and already the president of the Association has indicated the background of our distinguished recipient.

I can only add that he is what we might call a triple threat man. He is an author, a teacher, and a doctor and a medical scientist as well.

Like so many who have suffered heart attacks it has seemed that he has been able to work even harder after his attack than before, which is something that Paul Dudley White told me would be the case with General Eisenhower as we flew to Denver together, I recall, in 1955 on an Air Force plane at the time of his heart attack.

In making this presentation I will read the citation:

"Through his faith, courage, and achievement in meeting the personal challenge of heart disease, Dr. Irvine H. Page has set a magnificent example and inspired people everywhere with hope and with the determination to conquer our nation's leading health enemy."

I can only add that the reason I am a bit late coming to this ceremony is perhaps worth mentioning. I had a call from General Eisenhower at the hospital. He is in excellent spirits.

He is recovering from what many thought would be a fatal heart attack after having had one before, several before. He sends his best and his congratulations to you, Dr. Page, and to you, Dr. White, and to all of those who are here.

As I talked to him, I was reminded of the fact that General Eisenhower had a heart attack when he was President in 1955. President Johnson, of course, suffered a heart attack when he was the Majority Leader of the Senate.

Both, after suffering their heart attacks, were, it seemed, able to work even harder and longer than before they had the heart attacks.

I have been trying to figure a way that I could find more hours in the day. I am not suggesting that I am a candidate, understand, for a heart attack.

But I do believe that the example at the highest level---of two Presidents of the United States, the example of Admiral Rickover,¹ of General Norstad² and here now of a distinguished doctor and medical scientist--the example of these men who have recovered from what used to be the kind of disease that was supposed to finish a man for the rest of his life. He was supposed to slow down---

¹Vice Adm. H. G. Rickover, Director, Division of Naval Reactors.

²Gen. Lauris Norstad, former Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe.

I always thought that until Dr. Paul Dudley White told me it was not the case in 1955, that you were supposed to speed up a bit in order to avoid future ones.

This is certainly a striking example of it and I think the example of your courage, the fact of the contributions you have made after having gone through this experience, just as was the case with President Eisenhower and President Johnson, is a splendid example to the whole Nation.

We congratulate you and we wish you the very best in your continued service to your profession and to the Nation.

Would you like to respond too? You have equal time with Dr. Paul Dudley White.

DR. PAOE. Good! Well, Mr. President, I think you had better have a heart attack because that is what will give us a Republican majority.

My only advice that I can give you is that I got from my baseball cousin, Satchel Paige, who said, "Never look back, something might be gaining on you."

So I think that you are going to hear a great deal about preventive cardiology, we are going to think a great deal more about fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and wives are going to have to ask the question do they really want to stay with their husbands or not, because if you eat too much saturated fatty adds, you well may not.

So I deeply appreciate the fact you and Mrs. Nixon have taken the time and the trouble to recognize these things which we think are important and will be important to the vast majority, at least 50 percent, of the American citizens.

Thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT. As I understand then, the prescription both to avoid a heart attack and recover from one: Not too much fatty acid and plenty of exercise.

DR. WHITE. And no tobacco.

THE PRESIDENT. And Dr. White said no tobacco. I don't know whether I should get into that or not.