The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, will retire by the end of President Joe Biden's term in office.

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The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on July 20, 2021.

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Fauci, 81, did not give a specific date for his retirement in the wide-ranging interview, but said Biden will be the last president he serves as NIAID director for after working under every U.S. president.

The best people in the country, if not the world, will continue Fauci's vision after he leaves the NIAID, according to Fauci.

There is a pattern now. I will be 105 if someone says, 'You'll leave when we don't have Covid anymore.' Fauci was asked if a sense of obligation would keep him in his role.

Key Background

Fauci became NIAID director in 1984 after the first case of AIDS was reported by the CDC. Fauci and the medical establishment faced backlash from activists who said the NIAID did not do enough to address the infections that were killing HIV/AIDS patients throughout the 1980's. Fauci became a household name in 2020 with the rise of the Covid-19 Pandemic, which led to a contentious relationship with former President Donald Trump. Fauci played a key role in Trump's news briefings and on political TV shows during the early part of the Pandemic, and then became a target for Republican lawmakers for what they characterized as " moving the goal posts" in terms of ending the restrictions. Fauci and his family have received death threats. Fauci was appointed as Biden's chief medical advisor.

Chief Critic

Fauci said that Trump was against him because he made pessimistic statements about the country's direction. The president would ask me why I wasn't more positive. You need to be positive. You are negativistic. Fauci told the New York Times that he wanted to be more positive. Trump called Fauci a disaster in 2020 and said he would fire him if it didn't get a lot of negative publicity. On the Senate floor, Sen. Paul exchanged barbs with Fauci over the source of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Fauci accepted the NIAID director job if he could continue his research. Fauci told The Guardian that his career and identity have been defined by HIV.

Anthony Fauci wants to move past Covid's politics.

Anthony Fauci's fight against Aids helped prepare him for Covid-19.