About This Stamp
A 3-cent Great Americans series stamp honoring Dr. Paul Dudley White was issued on September 15, 1986, in the District of Columbia. Christopher Calle based his design for the stamp on a photograph of Dr. White taken in 1969 by Fabian Bachrach.
White, the son of a family physician, was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1886. He earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1911, and he became a teaching fellow there in 1914. Following the death of his sister from rheumatic fever, he embarked on a lifelong study of the heart and circulatory system. For decades a leading authority on cardiovascular disease, White is today recognized as the 'Father of American Cardiology'.
During a half century of medical practice, Dr. White observed thousands of cardiac cases and conducted numerous studies in the field. He was one of the first to use the electrocardiograph, and his research did much to speed the development of new diagnosis and treatment procedures. His book, Heart Disease, first published in 1931, was considered the standard text on the subject for many years.
Following President Dwight Eisenhower’s collapse from a heart attack in 1955, White was called in as a consultant to the attending physicians. Because of his candor and ability to discuss the President's condition in terms that laymen could understand, he quickly became spokesman for the group.
While reassuring the nation of the president's recovery, White also took the opportunity to educate the nation on the risks of heart disease. To a large degree, his warnings led to a heightened interest in nutrition, exercise, and general prevention.
Paul Dudley White died in Boston on October 31, 1973.