Howard G. Bruenn (1905 – July 25, 1995) was an American medical doctor who served as

Physician to the President The physician to the president is the formal and official title of the physician who is chosen by the president to be his personal physician. Often, the physician to the president also serves as the director of the White House Medical Unit, a ...

and attended to President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

in the year before his death.

Biography

Bruenn was born in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

. He graduated from

Columbia College Columbia College may refer to one of several institutions of higher education in North America: Canada * Columbia College (Alberta), in Calgary * Columbia College (British Columbia), a two-year liberal arts institution in Vancouver * Columbia In ...

in 1925 and

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hosp ...

in 1929. He interned at

Boston City Hospital The Boston City Hospital (1864–1996), in Boston, Massachusetts, was a public hospital, located in the South End. It was "intended for the use and comfort of poor patients, to whom medical care will be provided at the expense of the city, and . ...

and completed his residency at the

Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...

. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1942 and was commissioned a

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

. Bruenn was transferred to

Bethesda Naval Hospital The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), formerly known as the National Naval Medical Center and colloquially referred to as the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed, or Navy Med, is a United States' tri-service military medi ...

, where he became chief of cardiology. After giving President

a routine health check, he was assigned to be the President's physician. He traveled with the President wherever he went, including the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

. He was one of the only three people present in Roosevelt's personal quarters in the Little White House when he died on April 12, 1945. After the President's death, Bruenn returned to private practice until his retirement in 1975 as consultant emeritus and retired chief of the Vanderbilt Clinic at the

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New ...

. Bruenn, a lifelong resident of

Riverdale, Bronx Riverdale is a residential neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City borough of the Bronx. Riverdale, which had a population of 47,850 as of the 2000 United States Census, contains the city's northernmost point, at the Coll ...

, died on July 29, 1995, in his summer home in Sorrento, Maine at 90 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruenn, Howard 1905 births 1995 deaths People from Youngstown, Ohio Columbia College (New York) alumni Johns Hopkins School of Medicine alumni Physicians to the President Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel Physicians from Ohio 20th-century American physicians