Alexander D. Langmuir--his impact on public health.

Polybius was right. The world must be seen as an organic whole where everything affects everything else. That being the case, we are faced with such complexity that attempts to understand the full ramifications of any given event or person's life are fraught with peril, including the attempt to understand Alexander D. Langmuir's impact on public health. Some people are indeed "larger than life" and have a broader impact than others. When that happens, it is often because such people have an important message, possess the ability to be effective messengers, and are in the right place for that message to have an impact. In the absence of all three ingredients, the impact may be muted. For example, the Marshall Plan is seen as a key ingredient in the rebuilding of Europe at the end of the Second World War. We link that plan with General George Marshall and his 1947 Harvard University commencement address. In fact, the plan was written on an airplane by Undersecretary of State Will Clayton as he returned from Europe. Would it have had the same impact if called the Clayton Plan? It is doubtful. Clayton took the plan to Dean Acheson, who took it to President Truman. Truman approved it. The plan was presented in a commencement address given by Dean Acheson on May 8, 1947, at the Delta State Teacher's College in Cleveland, Mississippi. The New York Times reported on the address and James Reston even did an analysis, but the wire services did not pick up the story. The message was right, but evidently it was sent in the wrong place or by the wrong person. Less than a month later, on June 5, General Marshall presented the same idea at the Harvard commencement, and his talk was sent around the world. Message, messenger, and location all came together (1). Alexander Langmuir was the right messenger, with an important public health message, and while the