On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service

Because of the COVID pandemic, the name Tony Fauci has become incredibly politicized. To some, he is a villain who took over the country through a pandemic. They cynically blame him for all of America’s woes from the coronavirus. To others, he’s a hero for speaking life-conveying truth in a public-health crisis when most others equivocated. I’m in the latter camp, and this book, a memoir mixed with an apologia, certainly explains his perspective on this important history. Politics is driven by emotion, but this autobiography is not. Superb clinical reasoning with an eye to public health drives his narrative.

Tony Fauci comes across as a bit of a workaholic – a claim that I doubt he’d deny. In his defense, his time at work show more provided him a globally unique position to save others’ lives with HIV and other infectious diseases. He advised American presidents from both parties, and he tried to say apolitical until, well, everyone else wanted to make him into a political figure. Again, it’s up to the reader to judge the credibility of how he managed that role.

My biggest unexpected takeaway from this book is that George W. Bush seems to be his favorite president he served under. Of course, with W’s leadership, Fauci helped to design PEPFAR, the huge HIV/AIDS package aimed at squashing the virus in impoverished African and Asian countries. PEPFAR has become perhaps the excelling victory of #43’s administration and certainly one of the most effective public-health legislations in human history.

Despite his protestations of medical integrity, Tony Fauci will remain a political figure in the eyes of so many. That’s unfortunate. In this memoir, he comes across as an incredibly decent man grounded in the social-justice faith of the Roman Catholic church. His biomedical reasoning surpasses, and as one involved in biomedical research, I learned a lot that I can apply to my life. Above all, I took away to always speak the truth as empathetically as possible and be willing to live with the fallout. Tony Fauci’s life spent doing just that inspired and challenged me. show less

I’m sure most people who read Anthony Fauci’s best selling memoir were drawn to it because they admire the doctor who so admirably served this country for more than 60 years. I am no exception. The man is a national treasure, and his book is a resume to support that claim. Many people might not realize that Fauci first came to prominence, not because of the high profile role he took is fighting COVID-19, but long before that while saving lives when HIV/AIDS was a death sentence to anyone who contracted it. He also took a lead in fighting other diseases and threats including Ebola, Zika, and anthrax. He served seven U.S. presidents, and all but one earned his undying admiration. That one exception who made Fauci’s life miserable, show more of course, was Donald J. Trump. During the years trying to defeat COVID before it took more lives, Fauci was fighting two battles: one from the disease and one from the Republican right. While Trump was encouraging people to use harmful drugs to combat the virus and telling his scientists to try what he heard was a sure-fire way to beat COVID—inject disinfectant into the lungs—Fauci and his colleagues, including Deborah Birx, were struggling to find a vaccine to protect people from the agonizing death that the disease brought to millions in the U.S. and around the world. In Capitol Hill congressional hearings, Fauci had to spend wasted time being subjected to denigrating remarks from Republican politicians who had little or no factual evidence to support what they were claiming. And at least one, believe it or not, was also a doctor. Many of these men and women made statements that put Fauci and his family in danger and threatened his life to the point that he has full time security. And this for a man who saved millions of lives in spite of these angry, misinformed office holders. Anthony Fauci’s book is well worth the read, but it will make you angry—angry that this country continues to embrace the rejection of facts, science, and the heroic service of people like Anthony S. Fauci. show less

Some of this was interesting, but some was a slog. Fauci, although, erudite and successful, is not a natural narrator, so there were odd pauses in the audio version. There was also a lot of political names and cast of characters, which could be challenging to keep track of. He does a great job of making the science more understandable to a layperson. I also appreciated learning about Fauci's role in the AIDS epidemic, and I hadn't realized the magnitude of harassment he had received during Covid.

The more I read about highly successful people, the more obvious it becomes that a common thread in these lives, is a stable, nurturing family. Of course, it's not everything. Plenty of people have terrific parents and all the advantages, and show more make a mess of their lives, but early stability does seem to be a key ingredient for people who achieve this level of intellectual success. The critic in me though wants to read and hear more about people who have overcome these early obstacles. show less

I listened to this as an audiobook read by the author. It is a memoir of his life covering his family, education, and career in research on infectious diseases at the NIH.

He chronicles the emergence of HIV/AIDS and the evolution of public health policy around the disease from diagnosis to the development of treatments and the role that HIV activists played in those decisions.

He also relates events of all the presidential administrations he advised from the mid-1980's to 2024. I was astounded at how many public health crises the country faced in that time period including SARS, Ebola, Zica, and more ....not to mention COVID.

It is sad to see how his service has been besmirched by the political objectives of the far right.

However it was show more interesting to learn of the hard work and determination of those who are true public health professionals who adhere to scientific principles. show less

When I spent my career as a technician at an NIAID research lab, Dr Fauci was of course, the ultimate head of the lab, although he would only visit here in Montana once or twice a year. I attended many of his seminars and it was a real privilege to do so. He’s one of the great research minds of our generation.

This is a longish and detailed memoir of his amazing life, from his boyhood and medical training, to his early work on the AIDS virus to his final acts of helping to steer the US and the world through Covid-19. In between, it touches on many other of his research and public health projects including his work in Africa through WHO which helped bring hope to not only in that continent, but helped diseases from spreading throughout show more the world
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Here in early 2025, the political situation is overly fraught and unfortunately Dr Fauci has unfairly become one of the targets. Reading his memoir, I hope you’ll see him as not only a great scientist but a great humanitarian, working to ameliorate disease that cause suffering on so many of fronts. show less

Listening was a personal delight. Having read about Dr Fauci during the pandemic and having been aware of the very high standards at NIH I wasn’t surprised to learn how accomplished he out. I am a retired surgeon so come from a somewhat different world than Dr. Fauci. Nonetheless his memoir gave me e real sense that I had gotten the privilege of getting to know him. While I was in private practice I still feel my career was one of public service albeit to a different degree. I have seen a quote attributed to the Dali Lama: “Lead a good life so you can enjoy reliving it when you get old.” Dr Fauci’s memoir demonstrates the truth of that.

On Call documents a life of unflinching honesty and dedication. It will inspire readers who are grateful to Dr. Fauci and those who want to emulate him in public serfice.