Dr. Edgar Berman..

[Goodrum]

Dr. Edgar Berman, physician, confidant to former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and, admittedly, one of the nation's premier male chauvinists, died of a heart attack Wednesday at Sinai Hospital here. He was 72.

Berman was a soldier, author, surgeon, newspaper columnist and medical consultant for several federal agencies.

He gained notoriety when he said in 1970 that women could not be leaders because of their "raging hormonal imbalances."

Berman was a native Baltimorean, born August 6, 1919. He graduated from Baltimore City College at the age of 16 and entered the University of Maryland at College Park on a tennis scholarship. During his sophomore year, friends convinced him to take the medical entrance exam at Maryland, and his score rated first place. The young Berman began medical school before his 18th birthday and graduated in 1939 at the age of 20. His surgical residency, from 1939 to 1943, was at Baltimore’s Sinai, Lutheran, and Johns Hopkins hospitals.

Berman was a great admirer of the philosophy of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, and ranked him as one of the top thinkers of the century. In 1960, he and Phoebe visited Schweitzer in Africa where they stayed for twelve months. In addition to helping Schweitzer with his work, Berman kept notebooks documenting their conversations. He later published a book about this brilliant man who had accumulated doctorates in medicine, theology, philosophy, and music. Their admiration was mutual, and the two corresponded regularly until Schweitzer’s death in 1965.

In 1970, Berman uttered one of his most famous statements, resulting in his being targeted by the most prominent feminists of the time. During a meeting of the Democratic party’s committee on national priorities, when Congresswoman Patsy Mink suggested that women’s rights should be given the highest priority, Berman commented that “raging hormonal influences” during menstruation and menopause should preclude women from positions of executive power. “All things being equal,” Berman said, “I would still rather have had a male JFK make the Cuban missile crisis decisions than a female of similar age who could possibly be subject to the curious mental aberrations of that age group.”


Berman’s final book, In Africa with Schweitzer, was published in 1986 and was based on his correspondence with the famous medical missionary and the detailed notes he had taken when they had worked together from 1960 to 1961. “I always wanted to write,” Berman remarked in an interview. “I enjoyed medicine, and I think I made contributions, but I enjoy writing more than anything else I’ve ever done.”
He died on November 25, 1987, at the age of 68.

Such the innovator, writer, many interests, am inclined toward Inventor Rational at moment. Good with comebacks. Doesn't seem the Tactical Intelligence of an Operator, more the abstract, but maybe Artisan.

[Goodrum]

In 1972 Dr. Berman helped assemble the surgical team that operated on then Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama after he was shot and paralyzed by a bullet that lodged in his spine. Dr. Berman also had other celebrities as patients, including Mae West.

He was born in Baltimore and was graduated from the University of Maryland and its medical school.

In World War II Dr. Berman served as a Marine battle surgeon on Guam and Iwo Jima. He later spent two years in Beijing as chief of the Marine Corps Hospital in 1945 and 1946. There, he roomed with the writer John Hersey and talked politics with Chou En-lai.

Upon his return to the United States, Dr. Berman went into private practice in Baltimore and taught at Johns Hopkins University's School of Medecine from 1946 to 1960.

As a surgeon, he implanted the first plastic esophagus in a human in 1950, a technique now widely used on cancer patients. In 1957, he performed the first successful heart transplant, on a dog.

He worked with Dr. Albert Schweitzer in Gabon and Dr. Tom Dooley in Laos, becoming active in the latter's organization, Medico, Medical International Cooperation Organization for modern health care in third world nations. Dr. Berman was president of the organization from 1959 to 1965. Wrote 5 Books in 12 Years

His involvement led to a deep friendship with Mr. Humphrey, when he was a United States Senator from Minnesota. In 1962 Mr. Humphrey introduced Dr. Berman to President Kennedy, which led to a series of consultancies in Federal agencies, including coordinator of the division of population planning for the Agency for International Development, and coordinator for rural health projects in Central America for the same agency.

After he withdrew from Democratic Party activities in 1970, Dr. Berman wrote five books in 12 years. In ''The Solid Gold Stethoscope,'' published in 1976, he satirized his own profession.

His idolization of Mr. Humphrey resulted in ''The Triumph and Tragedy of the Humphrey I Knew.''

And he achieved some revenge in ''The Compleat Chauvinist: A Survival Guide for the Bedeviled Male,'' published in 1982. Two chapter headings: ''The Brain That's Tame Lies Mainly in the Dame,'' and ''No Runs, No Hits, No ERAs.''

''The women all hate me, and the man all think I'm their leader,'' he said in an interview with The New York Times in 1982. He characterized female behavior as ''raging hormones.''

In ''In Africa With Schweitzer,'' published last year, Dr. Berman reflected on Dr. Albert Schweitzer's humanitarian nature, unflagging energy and dedication.

When he left politics for writing, Dr. Berman retired to a 50-acre horse farm in Lutherville, Md., where he raised thoroughbreds. He also wrote newspaper columns for the Gannett papers in 1985 and was a regular columnist for USA Today.

There is a touch of Chris Hitchens about him I reckon:

"I always wanted to write," Dr. Berman insisted. "I enjoyed medicine, and I think I made contributions, but I enjoy writing more than anything else I’ve ever done."

[Goodrum]

So, he gives 'reasons' why he thinks women are inferior in leadership, and they touch upon what perhaps would have been considered edge of science-ish...still leaning toward Rational, he is rather like a Sherlock Holmes of chauvinism here..

"The women all hate me and the men all think I'm their leader," he recounted.

His reasons why women would not make good leaders were:

1. Women do not have enough of the male hormone, testosterone;

2. Women think mainly with the left sides of their brains, hence will never be as creative or theoretical as men, who are right-brained;

3. Women jealousy of other women will never allow them to vote for female politicans in any great numbers.

"I think the feminist movement was an important movement, especially in the areas of equal opportunity and equal pay for equal work. But the leadership was horrible; the leaders exploited the movement to the end. None of them seem to have jobs, yet they all have become rather wealthy...... I think (Betty) Friedan is the only authentic feminist; she seems to think about women, and not just about herself," Dr Berman made the observation.

"Even in cooking, dressmaking, and hairdressing, men are the outstanding leaders. Women have been cooking for men since the caves, yet men are still the best chefs. What about that?" he argued.

"Women like (Margaret) Thatcher and (Indira) Gandhi and Golda Meir are masculinized. They have a lot more testosterone in their veins than most women. They could run the Roman Empire," Dr. Berman explained.

In defence of her husband, Phoebe Berman said, "I think the major thing he's saying is that men and women are different; that we're programmed quite differently and have different roles to play."

Phoebe Rhea Berman was a philanthropist. She passed away in 1999.

One curator remarked, "She possessed what has become a lost sense of civic duty. She supported the fabric of the community."

Phoebe maybe/sounding more likely a Guardian, fabric of community.