Encore Mary Lasker and her Crusade as told by Judith L. Pearson

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In her remarkable new book, Crusade to Heal America, Judith L. Pearson unveils the captivating story of Mary Lasker - a woman of wit, resolve, and determined ambition to eradicate all human suffering. Lasker didn't merely view disease as an enigma to be cracked, but as a force to be conquered. She and her husband Albert began by establishing the Lasker Foundation, responsible for presenting yearly awards in medical research, as well as restructuring the American Cancer Society and driving an uptick in donations. Yet Lasker desired even more, and as she probed why 40% of World War II volunteers had been medically rejected, a single question sparked the beginnings of a grand plan: why hadn't the government funded medical research? Proclaiming herself a “catalytic agent”, she ignited an unstoppable crusade for better health among the American public.?As a result of her tenacity, the National Institute of Health has now blossomed into the world’s premier research centre, though this accomplishment did not come without its dissenters. Tragedy struck with the passing of her husband Albert due to cancer, but Lasker only used this to fuel her fire. Before long, President Richard Nixon found himself in a quandary over how to stop Senator Edward Kennedy from attaining the White House, and it was Lasker's initiative of a moonshot against cancer that he used to resolve the situation. Her endeavors eventually paid off, as she secured $1.3 billion in funding for cancer research ($9.6 billion in today's terms) and enabled the previously always fatal illness to become a survivable one.?Weaving together threads of American history, social standing, and subtle politics, Crusade to Heal America celebrates the unsung efforts of an incredible “fairy god-mother of medical research” who dedicated herself to bettering the lives of us all.