Frist's Doctorly Image May Serve Him Well

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By Janelle Carter Associated Press Writer Monday, December 23, 2002; 2:55 PM

WASHINGTON –– Bill Frist still keeps a white doctor's coat in his car and has always been willing to dispense medical advice – whether during the anthrax scare on Capitol Hill or on overseas trips he makes to provide medical care to the poor.

Republicans are now banking on the heart surgeon-turned-politician having the right prescription to erase the memories of the race controversy that toppled Trent Lott as Senate GOP leader and ientist Larry Sabato said of the man Republicans picked Wednesday to become Senate majority leader next month.

The Tennessean brings to the table a reputation as a deliberate thinker, a recognized expertise on health care issues and a willingness to reach across the aisle – even on issues opposed by others in his party.

For instance, when Republicans jettisoned President Clinton's 1995 nomination of Dr. Henry Foster as surgeon general, Frist joined Democrats in trying to salvage the nomination.

The atmosphere was charged with allegations by Republicans that Foster had performed abortions and complaints by Foster, who is black, that black nominees were held to a different standard. Frist ignored intense pressure from party leaders and supported Foster, a fellow Tennessean whom he had known for years.

Frist compared his decision back then to medicine.

"You make a diagnosis. You collect the information. You listen to both sides. You personally go down and look at the materials – especially when you're talking about the issue of a man's credibility. I have done that," he said in an interview shortly after the nomination.

Foster, who continues to practice medicine while teaching at Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University, said Frist's courage will serve him well in his new endeavor.

"He bucked his own party to support my nomination. To me, that's a testimonial. That tells me what he's capable of doing in the future. It took courage for him to do what he did," Foster said.

Frist was chief fund-raiser for Republican Senate candidates in the last election.

Yet even Democrats who Frist tried to help defeat appreciate his willingness to reach across the political aisle.

"He authorized the first attacks of my re-election campaign against me and I understand that," said Tim Johnson, D-S.D., narrowly re-elected last month.

But Johnson regards Frist as "reasonably moderate for a southern Republican, and I think there is an opportunity to work with him."

Frist steps into a job that in the past has been held by longtime political operatives, like Lott and Bob Dole. Unlike them, Frist is relatively new to the political scene.

A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Frist founded Vanderbilt University's organ transplant center. His father founded what is now HCA, the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain, which recently agreed to pay the Justice Department $631 million to settle allegations of health care fraud.

His successful 1994 run for the Senate – defeating three-term incumbent Jim Sasser – was his first try for public office. Then 42, he had only begun voting six years earlier.

Even then, the wealthy heart surgeon touted himself as an outsider and someone who was fed up and ready to go to Washington to make changes. He vowed to serve only through his second term, which ends in 2007.

Telling a reporter during his campaign of the many crime victims he saw come into the hospital, Frist said, "When you've seen it enough, you want to do something about it."

A political conservative who opposes abortion and favors tax and spending cuts, Frist has also crossed the aisle to work with Democrats on health and education issues, including legislation to reform Medicare, fight HIV/AIDS globally and give states flexibility in spending federal education funds.

In his spare time, he has quietly traveled overseas to provide health care to the poor.

"He frequently quietly goes to Africa and operates. People don't realize that," said Sen. John Warner, R-Va.

Sen.-elect Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., said that when she headed the Red Cross, "I remember Senator Frist calling me and offering to join overseas missions to help provide medical care to people needing assistance around the world."

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2002


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