Salute the doctor as a hero, and an officer
OOZING confidence and authority, it is little surprise that President Trump’s doctor Sean Conley is a US Navy officer.
As he briefed the world on Mr Trump’s condition outside Walter Reed Army Medical Centre yesterday, his calmness showed he is no stranger to pressure.
Just six years ago Commander Conley – a former osteopath who specialised in emergency medicine – was heading a trauma unit at a Nato base in Afghanistan.
His unit got a commendation from Romania for saving the life of one of its soldiers who had been severely injured by a bomb.
Cmdr Conley went on to become the research director at Portsmouth Navy Department of Emergency Medicine before being assigned to the White House Medical Unit – a team of 24 tasked with caring for the president, vice-president and their families.
He was appointed Physician to the President in March 2018 after Admiral Ronny Jackson, who held the post under President Obama, stepped down. Presidents have had in-house doctors since 1901, when Presley Rixey, a medical inspector with the US Navy, was tasked with looking after William Mckinley.
Most are serving military officers and very few have come to the public eye. In 1981, Daniel Ruge achieved fame for overseeing Ronald Reagan’s treatment after an assassination attempt.
Conley has already sparked controversy for sanctioning Mr Trump’s use of an anti-malarial drug to protect against Covid-19, despite a lack of medical evidence.