Anthony Fauci on defying Trump, fighting COVID-19, and emerging as both a hero and a villain

Fauci advised seven presidents, including Trump, with whom he had a "complicated" relationship.

WASHINGTON −The life Anthony Fauci anticipated is not the one he has led. Born in Brooklyn, the son of a pharmacist whose family resided above the business, he was lured to medical school by virtue of his 5'7" height, which ruined his hoops career at Regis High School. The world's deadliest diseases, from AIDS to Zika, were studied and treated by him as an immunologist and then as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

In an interview with USA TODAY, Fauci described his book, "On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service," which was released by Viking on Tuesday, as "sort of surrealistic." "Go back years when I was in medical school, did I ever think that I would be in a situation where millions and millions of people love me for what I've done, saving millions of lives ... and yet have some people who actually want to kill me?"
Fauci rose to prominence as the country's leading communicator during the deadliest worldwide epidemic in a century. Many Americans saw him as a hero for his candor, which often placed him at odds with the commander in chief of the country. However, others on the extreme-right accuse him of being corrupt and incompetent without providing any proof, even going so far as to be at the core of fanciful conspiracy theories regarding the origins of COVID.

The 464-page book ends with an acknowledgements section that captures Fauci's newly divided reality. Superstar musician and activist Bono receives his appreciation for "friendship and encouragement," but he also extends "special gratitude" to the security elements that he had to include into his everyday routine out of necessity.
"Do I feel safe?" Repeating a query from a reporter, Fauci pondered. He says, "Yes." However.
"But I still think deep down that there's a possibility that somebody's going to kill me."

One 'complex' relationship between seven presidents In her 38 years as the head of the Infectious Diseases Institute—one of the longest tenures for a top government official ever—Fauuci worked closely with seven presidents, ranging from Joe Biden to Ronald Reagan.
His relationship with the sixth, Donald Trump, is seen as "complicated."
The bombastic president appeared to like him right away, according to Fauci. He responded to me as though I were a New Yorker, saying, 'I'm from Queens, he's from Brooklyn.' We appeared to connect because we both had that New York swagger—me having a little bit of it, and him having it."