Paul Dudley White papers

Paul Dudley White (1886-1973), A.B., Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, M.D., 1911, Harvard Medical School, was a cardiologist who helped develop the specialty from its early days and promoted international scientific cooperation and world peace (1). He was a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. White advocated non-smoking, daily exercise, and moderation in eating and drinking alcohol. He received a burst of media attention after providing medical care to Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States, which gave him a platform for his messages about heart health.

Paul Dudley White was born on June 5, 1886 in Boston, Massachusetts, to Elizabeth and Herbert White. He was identified as white in the 1900 U.S. Census. Herbert was a physician in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, and he helped to found New England Baptist Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. White attended Roxbury Latin School, Boston, Massachusetts, where he studied classics and history. He then attended Harvard College and Harvard Medical School. Following his medical school graduation in 1911, White interned at Massachusetts General Hospital. At that time, the field of cardiology was in its early development. In 1913, Harvard awarded White a Sheldon Fellowship which allowed him to spend a year abroad. During that time, White trained with Thomas Lewis in London, England in the newly-established specialty of cardiology. Upon his return, he was one of the first to introduce the electrocardiograph (ECG) in the United States. During World War I, he served with the British and American Expeditionary Forces in France, and at war's end went on to Greece as a member of a Red Cross mission to control typhus. Back in Boston in 1919, White soon became chief of the Out-Patient Department at Massachusetts General Hospital, in addition to his continuing work as physician in charge of its Cardiac Laboratory and Clinics. His work in the hospital's clinics and wards attracted many physicians to seek training with him and collaborate in his research. White’s work included a coagulation study; the identification of pre-excitation syndrome; and, with Louis Wolff and John Parkinson, the description of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a condition of rapid heartbeat caused by abnormal electrical pathways from the heart. He was also known for his attentiveness to his patients and his respect for colleagues and staff (2). White also became a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, attaining the status of Clinical Professor of Medicine in 1946. White was awarded a Moseley Traveling Fellowship in 1928, which he used for a sabbatical year abroad to write his book, Heart Disease. The book drew on White’s accumulated cardiographs and case studies and was published in 1931 to acclaim from the New England Journal of Medicine (3). During World War II, White chaired the Cardiovascular Committee of the National Research Council, which worked to determine medical criteria, such as blood pressure, for army service. He also developed and used many discoveries and advances that came out of World War II. From 1948 to 1957, he was executive director of the National Advisory Heart Council and chief adviser to the National Heart Institute of the U.S. Public Health Service. He retired from medical practice in 1972.

White was active in professional organizations. He was a cofounder of the American Heart Association in 1924, and in 1940 and 1941, president of that organization. He was a founder and first president of the International Council of Cardiology in 1946. From the late 1940s he sought to improve world understanding of heart disease and foster a cooperative approach to research through the International Society of Cardiology, world and regional congresses of cardiology, and most of all, through the International Cardiology Federation and its network of national heart foundations. In September 1955, 69-year-old White was called to provide medical care for United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had had a heart attack. White suddenly received a lot of media attention, and he became known for his informative and authoritative news conferences about presidential illness. His platform gave him the opportunity to advocate eating sparingly, moderate alcohol consumption, anti-smoking, and daily exercise. He also took on a role in fostering international cooperation around medical issues and working towards peace, including with Russia during the Cold War. In 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson awarded White the Presidential Medal of Freedom. White was much in demand as a speaker (4).

White married Ina Reid. They had two children, Penelope Dudley Vogel and Alexander Warren White. White enjoyed bike riding and advocated cycling for heart health. He was known for avoiding elevators by taking the stairs, and for avoiding driving by riding his bike (5). The Charles River bike path in Boston is named for him. White was also interested in medical history, and in his later years, he became a collector of major medical works published since the invention of printing. White died at Massachusetts General Hospital on October 31, 1973, following a massive stroke. Upon his death, the Boston Globe referred to him as “Dr. Heart.”

1. Favaloro, René. “Revival of Paul Dudley White: An Overview of Present Medical Practice and of Our Society.” Circulation 99, no. 12 (March 30, 1999): 1525–1537. https://doi.org/10.1161/01.CIR.99.12.1525.

2. Ibid

3. “Dr. Paul Dudley White Is Dead at 87.” New York Times, November 1, 1973.

Favaloro.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.