1948-2022

Making Everyone Aware of Heart Disease

Raising public awareness about heart disease became such a priority that the AHA morphed from a strictly professional organization to a voluntary health organization in 1948.

The first major publicity boost came from a radio contest called “Walking Man.” Contestants mailed in enough $25 donations to generate more than $1.5 million. That’s the equivalent of over $19 million today.

Public awareness received a startling springboard in 1955, when President Dwight Eisenhower had a heart attack. His strong recovery – under the guidance of Dr. Paul Dudley White, one of the AHA’s founders – generated new conversations. And in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed February as American Heart Month, which has continued every year since.