Heart, Dick Cheney
Heart, Dick Cheney
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Heart
An American Medical Odyssey

Author: Dick Cheney, Jonathan Reiner

Narrator: Jeremy Bobb, Edward Herrmann, Jonathan Reiner

Unabridged: 10 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/22/2013


Synopsis

Former Vice President Dick Cheney and his longtime cardiologist, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, share the story of Cheney’s thirty-five-year battle with heart disease—providing insight into the incredible medical breakthroughs that have changed cardiac care over the last four decades.

For as long as he has served at the highest levels of business and government, Vice President Dick Cheney has also been one of the world’s most prominent heart patients. Now, for the first time ever, Cheney, together with his longtime cardiologist, Jonathan Reiner, MD, shares the very personal story of his courageous thirty-five-year battle with heart disease, from his first heart attack in 1978 to the heart transplant he received in 2012.

In 1978, when Cheney suffered his first heart attack, he received essentially the same treatment President Eisenhower had had in 1955. Since then, cardiac medicine has been revolutionized, and Cheney has benefitted from nearly every medical breakthrough. At each juncture, when Cheney faced a new health challenge, the technology was one step ahead of his disease. Cheney’s story is in many ways the story of the evolution of modern cardiac care.

Heart is the riveting, singular memoir of both doctor and patient. Like no US politician has before him, Cheney opens up about his health struggles, sharing harrowing, never-before-told stories about the challenges he faced during a perilous time in our nation’s history. Dr. Reiner provides his perspective on Cheney’s case and also gives readers a fascinating glimpse into his own education as a doctor and the history of our understanding of the human heart. He masterfully chronicles the important discoveries, radical innovations, and cutting-edge science that have changed the face of medicine and saved countless lives.

Powerfully braiding science with story and the personal with the political, Heart is a sweeping, inspiring, and ultimately optimistic book that will give hope to the millions of Americans affected by heart disease.

About Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney served at the highest levels of government and the private sector for more than forty years. He was White House Chief of Staff under President Gerald Ford and was elected six times to the US House of Representatives from Wyoming, eventually becoming the minority whip. He served as Secretary of Defense under President George H.W. Bush, overseeing America’s military during the 1991 Operation Desert Storm. He served as chairman and CEO of a Fortune 100 company, and as the forty-sixth Vice President of the United States, he served two terms under President George W. Bush during the dawn of the Global War on Terror, playing a key role in events that have shaped history.

About Jonathan Reiner

Jonathan Reiner, MD, is the director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at The George Washington University Hospital and professor of medicine at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University, Dr. Reiner completed a residency in medicine at North Shore University Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He began a fellowship in cardiology at The George Washington University Medical Center in 1990. In 1994, he completed a fellowship in interventional cardiology, which, along with the management of patients with complex coronary artery disease, remains his focus today.

About Edward Herrmann

Edward Herrmann's films include Nixon, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Annie, and The Aviator. On television's Gilmore Girls he starred as the patriarch, Richard Gilmore. He has also appeared on The Good Wife, Law & Order, 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, and Oz. He earned an Emmy Award for The Practice, and remains well-known for his Emmy-nominated portrayals of FDR in Eleanor and Franklin and Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years. On Broadway, he won a Tony Award for his performance in Mrs. Warren's Profession.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kendra on July 01, 2016

First let me say, I listened to the audiobook as I was driving back and forth to work. I think this is relevant when evaluating a book and its ability to hold your interest/attention. I feel the bar is a little lower than reading in print. Also I should mention that I was a Cardio Thoracic Surgical......more

Goodreads review by Melanie on February 03, 2014

I enjoyed reading about the Advances in cardiovascular research, but I work for the American Heart Association ;) I wasn't sure I would like this book because I thought it would be very political; however, it was written from the perspective of how the VP functioned in his role living with serious h......more

Goodreads review by Sharon on August 08, 2016

it's not always bad being the guinea pig in medicine . . . i know i am healthier than most lyme patients b/c of the new protocols my physician and i have tried.......more

Goodreads review by Elliot on February 02, 2014

As a doctor and a heart patient, I read with interest Cheney’s book as it provides the history of the treatment of coronary artery disease through the eyes of a famous patient and through the eyes of his physician. It sheds light on VP Cheney and how he makes decisions. It also shows the importance......more

Goodreads review by Aaron on March 02, 2014

Almost every review of this book starts by noting that it's not a political memoir. If you want that, Cheney has already written an autobiography. I haven't read it, but that might be what you're looking for. This book is, as the subtitle suggests, all about Cheney's medical odyssey. This isn't a po......more