2002

Tommy Thompson calls me at home at 9:30 PM (he was sequestered in “the bunker” for security reasons) and tells me that he spoke with Clay Johnson today and Johnson told him that he was going to recommend someone else…

I go to the Annual Alphalfa Dinner at the Capitol Hilton as a Guest of Robert Wood (“Woody”) Johnson IV.. Amazing scene! Virtually every important government official (the entire Cabinet, military leaders, etc) was…

An editorial in the Washington Post calls for President Bush to appointment me as the NIH Director.

Spectacular day! I traveled on Air Force One with President Bush to Pittsburgh to spin his FY2003 budget on Bioterrorism and to visit scientists at Univ. of Pittsburgh who are working on a novel early warning system for…

Sheryl Stolberg suggests in the New York Times that Bush should appoint me. She mentions that the sticking point is my requirement to do both jobs.

Laura Meckler wrote a piece for AP on the right wing Family Research Council opposing my nomination for NIH Director based on my philosophy on fetal tissue and stem cells. They refer to my comments in 1988 about the…

Article in New York Times by Sheryl Gay Stolberg telling the story as it happened saying that I am no longer a candidate for NIH Director’s job. She states that the White House says that the reason is the objection to…

Secretary Thompson called me today and said that he was very upset, but I will not be asked to be NIH Director. He said that he was being forced by the White House to submit Dr. Elias Zerhouni’s name and that he was not…

Attended Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, D.C. Spent time speaking with President Bush, Karl Rove, Clay Johnson, Donna Shalala, Tim Russert, Sam Donaldson, John Neroponte, Cokie Roberts, etc. The topic was often…

I went to White House ceremony where Pres. Bush announced Elias Zerhouni as nominee for NIH Director.

Went to NYC for Press Conference for the announcement of my receiving the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine, which is the largest prize in Medicine in America and the second largest in the world to the Nobel…

Big press conference at DHHS for the announcement of the publication in NEJM of the dilution studies for smallpox vaccine. Also, in same issue of NEJM was my editorial calling for an open dialogue as to whether there…

For the past 2 weeks, Mark Dybul, Terrell Halaska and I have been working on a proposal for prevention of mother-to-child-transmission (MCTC) in developing nations to present to president Bush who wants to use this as…

I briefed President Bush in the Hamilton Room of the West Wing on the MCTC plan. Present were Josh Bolton (Deputy Chief of Staff), Andrew Card (Chief of Staff), Karl Rove, Mr Calio, Gary Edson, Secretary Thompson…

I found out at National Airport that President Bush was establishing a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that would encompass 160,000 employees with a budget of >$30 billion by consolidating all activities related…

Had breakfast with Treasury Sec. Paul O’Neill this AM to discuss the entire concept of AIDS in Africa. We related very well and he received my advice, consultation very enthusiastically.

Received a call from Richard Falkenrath at the White House who said that he had heard that I was concerned about the $1.748 Billion going to Department of Homeland Security (DHS). We wanted to assure me that the money…

Most extraordinary day!! The POTUS requested that I join him and Secs, Thompson, O’Neill, and Powell and Sen. Frist and Andrew Natsios at the Rose Garden Ceremony to announce the MCTC plan that Mark and I essentialy…

C-SPAN’s Washington Journal – I appeared for 45 minutes on the show the morning after returning from the AIDS conference. I had spent July 7-10 at the conference and July 11-12 in Genoa as Chair of the International…

Diane Rehm Show – Spent a terrific 1 hour alone on the show with Diane. I went over the AIDS Conference highlights. I explained about and defended Secretary Thomspon vis-a-vis the demonstration against him. Also, I…

Meeting at the White House with Gary Edson and Jay Lefkowitz. We discussed the details and implementation of the MTCT project. Obviously, there will be difficulties with USAID. They are resentful that DHHS is getting…

Over the past few weeks important issues have evolved regarding Biodefense. There is a major struggle going on in the Congress about the formation of the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). At issue (among other…

Had top secret conference call with Jerry Hauer (HHS), Phil Russell (HHS), Stewart Simonson (HHS), and Lester Crawford (FDA). Subject – VP Cheney has indicated that we will hit Iraq soon and we expect retaliation with a…

Got an e-mail from Gary Edson at the WH asking if I had completed the Global AIDS Treatment plan to present to him in order to determine if it is worth presenting to the President for him to announce in his upcoming…

Met at the White House with Gary Edson, Jay Lefkowitz, and Margaret La Montagne Spellings to present the Dybul/Fauci plan for comprehensive treatment and prevention of HIV in African countries. This was in response to…

Went back to White House to present the revised Global AIDS Plan to Gary Edson. Also present were Terrell Halaska, Mark Dybul and Joe O’Neill, Director of Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP). Gary again liked the…

Meeting at the White House with Gary Edson, Jay Lefkowitz, Margaret Spellings, Ken Thomas (ONAP), Jim Capretta, Robin Cleveland (OMB) and Mark Dybul. We presented the condensed version (see above) to Gary , Margaret…

Two meetings at the White House today: 1) Meeting in Executive Office Building (EOB_ in OMB’s Robin Cleveland’s office with Robin, Gary Edson, Joe O’Neill, and Mark Dybul. We presented our re- enforced implementation…

Another meeting at the White House on the President’s AIDS initiative. This time I presented the program to Josh Bolten in his office in the West Wing. Also present were Gary Edson, Jay Lefkowitz, Terrell Halaska, Mark…

Briefed Secretary Thompson about the upcoming smallpox vaccination policy and role-out. Also present were Julie Gerberding, Stewart Simonson, Michael Osterholm, Jerry Hauer, Les Crawford, Ann Agnew, Terrell Halaska…

Had CIA briefing and overall review of smallpox plan in Secr. Thompson’s office with Gov. Ridge, Col. Bob Kadlac, Julie Gerberding, Jerry Hauer, and a Ridge person . Clearly Russia had modified smallpox and very likely…

White House briefing with Carol Kuntz (Assistant to VP Cheney), Kristen Silverberg, Stewart Simonson, Jerry Hauer, Bob Kadlac and others regarding smallpox vaccination policy. Carol was concerned that she was getting…

Spoke with Carol Kuntz over the phone and explained some calculations that I had done (see attachment). She apologized for questioning me the day before and even made the comment that ”Who is she to go mano-a mano with…

Received ICAAC Award and gave the ICAAC Award lecture in San Diego on “Bioterrorism in the spectrum of emerging and re-emerging diseases”. Audience was 10,000 people and received rave reviews for the lecture.

Got another top secret briefing from the CIA. Apparently Russia is still making genetically modified microbes for offensive use. Also, was briefed on Iraq’s capabilities. It is my impression that the CIA information is…

Engaged with Julie Gerberding, Jerry Hauer, Kevin Keane in a briefing of State and local Public Health officials on the likely roll out plan of smallpox vaccination in3 stages (500,000 smallpox response teams and…

Had 2 important meetings at the White House today: First - meeting with Gary Edson, Jay Lefkowitz and Robin Cleveland about the comprehensive AIDS implementation plan for prevention, treatment, and care for developing…

Sent down the 3-pager that Jay and Gary wanted (see above). It calls for the USG taking the lead and committing a considerable amount of money THROUGH the Global Trust Fund, but under the stipulation that other…

Gary Edson contacted me and likes very much the revised document (see above). We are closing in on it and he will soon show it to Josh Bolten. Oct. 8 – 22, 2002 – Washington, D.C. area being terrorized by a sniper who…

Had a terrific visit and briefing of Vice President Cheney in the West Wing of the WH. Present were the VP, “Scooter” Libby, Carol Kuntz, Noreen Hynes, Seth Carus, (Gen.) Phil Russell, and Stewart Simonson. I went over…

Met with Bono again at the Jefferson Hotel for breakfast. Also present were Jamie Drummond, Lucy Matthew, Katrina and Erin Chapman. We spent almost 2 hours going over options for how we can drive the agenda for…

Received today the written version of the oral history that Victoria Harden collected from me a few months ago. See attached document. Fauci on biodefense 8-9-02.doc Oct. 30 – Nov. 1 – Multiple conversations and e-mail…

Had a great meeting with Carol Kuntz, Noreen Hynes, and Seth Carus regarding the request of the Vice President for me to list what added powers that I would need to make the BioD program work at NIAID. Stewart Simonson…

See note of Oct. 30 – Nov. 1 above. Gary Edson called me last week and said that they were on the verge of making the decision regarding whether we will go for the major implementation plan. However, there is skepticism…

Multiple meetings in the DHHS to plan roll out of smallpox vaccination plan. It is imminent. The President is planning on having to start bombing Iraq in the 2nd week of January and wants to start vaccinating the…

Another meeting at the White House with Jay Lefkowitz, Gary Edson, Joe O’Neill, Mark Dybul and me to further discuss the potential for getting the President to accept our proposal for a comprehensive $50 billion over 5…

Another pre-roll out meeting at the Department to prepare for the upcoming announcement by the President on the Smallpox vaccination policy. Meeting was with Kevin Keane, Bill Hall, Jerry Hauer, and on teleconference …

Gave keynote address at the Holy Cross function at The Supreme Court for “Lift the Cross High”. Justice Clarence Thomas was our host and was the other speaker. My remarks were very well received by all. It was a very…

Briefing of Vice President Cheney at the White House regarding Project Bioshield (I made up the name) which is requesting his help in getting me special authorities for Countermeasure Advanced Development. Meeting…

Still waiting for the President to decide on the announcement of the smallpox vaccine policy. Should be tomorrow or next day. Also, a lot of back and forth between me, Jay Lefkowitz and Gary Edson. I believe that we are…

Amazing day. I was at one time on 3 different lines with 3 different people at the White House – Gary Edson, Jay Lefkowitz, Carol Kuntz. There was an intense and critical issue with Gary and Jay. Gary was getting ready…

A truly terrific day! Cheney came to VRC and I presented an updated version of Project Bioshield in the context of going from concept to product in the VRC. Present at meeting were: Cheney, Scooter Libby, Carol Kuntz…

Another exciting day at the White House. Clearly, Scooter Libby and the VP are in favor of pushing for the Vaccine Trust Fund. OMB and the WH economic advisors have a problem with the concept of a trust fund. As usual…

Critical meeting at the White House (see above). Attending were VP Cheney and Scooter Libby by teleconference from Jackson Hole; Stewart Simonson, Phil Russell, Kerry Weems (Budget, DHHS), Carol Kuntz, Noreen Hynes…

Nice surprise today. At 1:00 PM, I received a call in my office. I answered the phone since everyone else had left for the ½ day Christmas eve. On the other end someone sang the full verse of “Happy Birthday”. It was…