Free Republic

President Bush spent the night in Tucson, Arizona where he arrived late yesterday evening after touring the areas effected by the wildfires in California. This morning, the President participated in a fundraiser for Congressional candidate Tim Bee before boarding Air Force One. Arriving in Houston, Texas this afternoon, President Bush spoke on behalf of another Congressional candidate Pete Olson at Ellington Field. (Transcript) No doubt in my mind Pete Olson will make a fine United States congressman and I'm proud to be here to support him. The President attended a private fundraiser for Olson late this afternoon. From there the...

Two Men of Character Cal Thomas Two longtime friends of mine died last week. One was the renowned cardiovascular surgeon, Dr. Michael DeBakey. I first met him as a young reporter in Houston in the late '60s and we kept up over the years. He lobbied me to write about health issues and the importance of research. I occasionally asked him for medical advice, which he was always happy to give. A brilliant man with fingers so long he might have been a concert pianist, Dr. DeBakey invented many of the instruments now used in operating rooms and pioneered procedures...

The President and Mrs. Bush are at Camp David for the weekend. The President delivered his Saturaday radio address. President’s Radio Address. He urged Congress to address the pain that high gas prices are causing our citizens. President and Mrs. Bush were saddened to learn of the death of Tony Snow. REMARKS Vice President Cheney underwent his annual medical checkup today at George Washington Hospital. His heart was declared in stable condition, his spokeswoman said.

Dr. Michael Ellis DeBakey, internationally acclaimed as the father of modern cardiovascular surgery — and considered by many to be the greatest surgeon ever — died Friday night at The Methodist Hospital in Houston. He was 99. Methodist officials said DeBakey died of natural causes. They gave no additional details. Medical statesman, chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine, and a surgeon at The Methodist Hospital since 1949, DeBakey trained thousands of surgeons over several generations, achieving legendary status decades before his death. During his career, he estimated he had performed more than 60,000 operations. His patients included the famous...

Former Polish president Lech Walesa, who received a Nobel Peace Prize after leading a movement that ultimately brought down the nation's communist regime, is in Houston being evaluated for a possible heart transplant. An official at the Methodist Hospital's DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center said doctors have not yet determined whether Walesa's heart failure will require a transplant. She said doctors are hoping to forestall a transplant or use another treatment. Walesa will receive a pacemaker Wednesday or Thursday, she said. Walesa, 64, arrived in Houston from Poland Monday night. He is undergoing tests today. If Walesa is determined to...

It was the fall of 1996, and Boris N. Yeltsin was running for re-election as Russia’s first president in the post-Soviet era. But he faced a crisis far more threatening than any opponent: he was desperately ill. Mr. Yeltsin had had a heart attack. He was experiencing chest pain from angina. He needed a coronary bypass operation. But his Russian doctors said he could not survive such surgery. For independent advice, Mr. Yeltsin reached out to an American doctor as renowned in Russia as he was in the United States: Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, the pioneering Houston heart surgeon. Dr....