Editing Melvin Laird (section)

==Role in health care research==
Laird played a key role in advancing medical research, although this part of his biography is often overshadowed by his political achievements.
"Laird's position on the House Appropriations subcommittee handling health matters allowed him to play a key congressional role on many medical and health issues. He often teamed up with liberal Democrat [[John E. Fogarty|John Fogarty]] of Rhode Island to pass key legislation on education or health matters. Their impact on the [[National Institutes of Health]] was pivotal in a vast expansion of health research programs and facilities. They also sponsored the buildup of the [[National Library of Medicine]], the [[Centers for Disease Control]] in [[Atlanta]], the National Environmental Center in North Carolina, and the nation's eight National Cancer Centers, later part of the National Institutes of Health. Laird received many awards for his work on health matters, including the [[Albert Lasker Medical Research Award]] (1964) and the [[American Public Health Association]] award for leadership." This account of his role is noted in the [[Gerald R. Ford]] Presidential Library biography.<ref>{{cite web |title=MELVIN R. LAIRD |url=http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/guides/findingaid/Laird,_Melvin_-_Papers.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916035424/http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/guides/findingaid/Laird,_Melvin_-_Papers.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-09-16 |publisher=Gerald R. Ford Museum |access-date=7 October 2024}}</ref>

Between 1956 and 1967, Laird was appointed a member of the U.S. Delegation to the [[World Health Organization]] in [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]], by three U.S. Presidents – [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].

In fact, President Eisenhower so admired Laird's work in Congress for world health and national security that he described Congressman Laird as "one of the 10 men best qualified to become President of the United States."

Laird's interest in medical research is documented by his co-authoring legislation to finance the construction of the [[National Library of Medicine]], and important centers for medical research on many university campuses (among them the [[McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research]] and the [[University of Wisconsin]] Cancer Center in Madison) and the major institutes of the National Institutes of Health in [[Bethesda, Maryland]]. Laird, Congressman Fogarty and Senator [[Lister Hill]] (D-Alabama) also authorized legislation which funded the building of the [[Centers for Disease Control]] and Prevention (CDCP) in Atlanta, GA.<ref>BenchMarks Magazine, Fall 1994 {{cite web|url=https://www.marshfieldclinic.org/giving/benchmarks|title=BenchMarks}}</ref>