Dr. Fauci's accomplishments in public health for over half a century: A look back
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a renowned physician-scientist and immunologist, testified on Monday before the House Oversight and Accountability hearing on the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During his first public hearing since leaving government, 83-year-old Fauci faced personal attacks from several Republican members. Far-right Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who refused to address him by his professional title, said, "You’re not a doctor, you’re Mr. Fauci," during the hearing.
The Brooklyn native, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) starting in 1984 and served under every U.S. president from Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden, explained that he developed a method for dealing with politicians, especially during crises.
“I go to my favorite book of philosophy, ‘The Godfather,’ and say, ‘It’s nothing personal, it’s strictly business,’” Fauci said in an interview with The New Yorker in 2020. “You just have a job to do. Even when somebody’s acting ridiculous, you can’t chide them for it. You’ve got to deal with them,” he added. “Because if you don’t deal with them, then you’re out of the picture.”
Work on the HIV/AIDS epidemic
For more than 50 years, Fauci and the National Institutes of Health worked to manage U.S. public health crises, such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, the West Nile Virus outbreak in 2009, H1N1, Ebola, Zika and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), among others.
Fauci went on to create the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief under former President George W. Bush and since its launch in 2003, the initiative has provided $90 billion in funding for AIDS research, prevention, and treatment and is credited with saving over 25 million lives.
“My career and my identity has really been defined by HIV,” Fauci told the Guardian in a late 2020 interview.
Bush awarded Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008 for “his determined and aggressive efforts to help others live longer and healthier lives.”
The COVID-19 pandemic
Fauci was thrust into the political and media spotlight when COVID-19 overtook the U.S. and the world in 2020, appearing alongside former President Donald Trump during televised briefings.
During the Trump presidency, Fauci was a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and served as the White House spokesperson on the pandemic, informing the public about social distancing and other public safety measures.
More:Here's a timeline of President Donald Trump's and Dr. Anthony Fauci's relationship
Fauci eventually became a hostile figure to those who opposed any COVID-19 restrictions and was the subject of conspiracy theories and death threats, eventually requiring a security detail. In December 2023, the authorities in Iowa arrested a California man armed with an assault rifle and ammunition, who possessed a list including Fauci and Biden.
After Biden won the 2020 election, Fauci served as the president’s chief medical advisor until he stepped down in December 2022. He now teaches as a distinguished professor at Georgetown University’s School of Medicine and School of Public Policy.
After his five-decade career in public service, Fauci appears to be undeterred by both personal attacks and science deniers.
“Stick with the science and never be afraid to tell somebody something that is the truth—but it’s an inconvenient truth in which there might be the possibility of the messenger getting shot,” he told The Associated Press. “You don’t worry about that. You just keep telling the truth.”