White coats in the White House
Doctors who treat presidents become physicians in chief.
White coats in the White House
Retired Navy Rear Adm. E. Connie Mariano, MD, an internist, took over as President Bill Clinton's chief physician and head of the White House Medical Unit in 1993. During Clinton's presidency, Dr. Mariano fielded calls from fellow physicians trying to lend a hand. "Every doctor in the world loves to second-guess you. They'd see [the president] on television and call and say that he has whatever lesion they thought it was on his face. I'd say, 'How do you know that?' And they'd say, 'Well, I saw it on television.' "
White coats in the White House
Retired Navy Rear Adm. E. Connie Mariano, MD, treats President Bill Clinton in the White House's private quarters after his 1997 quadricep surgery. Dr. Mariano changed the way the president's health care is delivered by instituting mandated 24-hour coverage from White House physicians. She joined the White House Medical Unit after giving a strong answer in her job interview with Burton Lee III, MD, then chief physician to George H.W. Bush. "You know, Dr. Lee, it's payback time. I owe a lot to the United States. My father was from the Philippines. He was a poor man, and he joined the U.S. Navy. That gave him a career, and his kids went to school here. I owe so much to this country."
White coats in the White House
Burton Lee III, MD, an oncologist, was President George H.W. Bush's chief physician. One of Dr. Lee's first cases at the White House involved the Bushes' springer spaniel, Millie. "The dog had lupus, so I called up a lupus expert in New York, and he told me, 'Try taking the spleen out of the dog,' " Dr. Lee says. "So we did, and the dog had no more lupus."
White coats in the White House
Even the president can get the flu. Concerned that President George H.W. Bush was ill, his chief physician, Burton Lee III, MD, had advised him not to attend a 1992 state dinner at Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa's home in Toyko. Dr. Lee told an interpreter sitting near Bush at the event to signal if the president looked sick. The signal never came, but Bush collapsed. Secret Service agents rushed to the president's aid, while Dr. Lee crawled under the table to get to Bush, who was fine after he regained consciousness. The embarrassing situation helped cement the friendship between Bush and Miyazawa.
White coats in the White House
Retired Army Gen. John E. Hutton, MD, (red tie) formed a strong bond with President Ronald Reagan during the doctor's years at the White House. Dr. Hutton, a surgeon, was Reagan's third chief physician. The first two were civilians. Dr. Hutton also hired other physicians to help staff the White House Medical Unit."I would always try to get somebody who would do it as a favor to the country."
White coats in the White House
Retired Army Gen. John E. Hutton, MD (second from left), was part of a surgical team that removed a large tumor from President Ronald Reagan's colon in 1985. At the time, Dr. Hutton was an assistant White House physician but soon after was promoted to physician to the president. In that role, he had some memorable exchanges with notable White House reporters. "I would have occasional bouts with Sam Donaldson and Helen Thomas. I still can hear her raspy voice to this day. 'Dr. Hutton, did the president have a stroke last night?' Every time I saw Helen, she had some query like that."
Posted with the March 23, 2009 issue - Accompanying article: White coats in the White House
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