Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Mary Lasker Papers
Lasker, Mary
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973
United States. Congress. Senate
Lasker developed a close political relationship with President Johnson, who credited modern medical science with saving his life after he suffered a heart attack in 1958. Lasker had Johnson and his wife Lady Bird Johnson for lunch at her New York townhouse, spent a night at the White House, and met with Johnson several times to discuss health matters, all in the first two months of his presidency. Johnson was moved to add medical research and health care delivery initiatives to his Great Society programs by "the insistence of that lovely Lady, Mrs. Mary Lasker" and the "grim facts" about the continuing toll of disease she presented to him.
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