During our discussion of the origins of Vannevar Bush’s essay (Science: The Endless Frontier) last night (February 20th), I mentioned earlier evidence that FDR was an admirer of many kinds of science, including biomedical science.    One especially important piece of evidence was the short talk he delivered on the steps of the new NIH campus in Bethesda on the eve of the 1940 Presidential election, October 30th.  Kevin found the link to the oral and video recordings of that event and you can access it via YouTube. You are likely to be as impressed and moved as I am each time I view this video, put together by the National Library of Medicine at the NIH. 

Text of speech can be found at this link: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/collections/franklin/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=582

Website for audio archive: https://fdrlibrary.org/utterancesfdr#afdr211

FDR 10/30/1940 speech: https://fdrlibrary.org/documents/356632/405112/afdr211.mp3/5674a0d3-7cf0-426b-9249-d2f4a6eb1159

FDR 10/30/1940 speech video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=UrVZblIYljo

HV