Rower, gold medalist, pediatrician, author, peace activist, Presidential candidate

[table]

Category,Data

Full Name,Benjamin McLane “Ben” Spock

Used Name,Ben Spock

Born,2 May 1903; New Haven Connecticut (USA)

Died,15 March 1998; La Jolla California (USA)

Measurements,196 cm

Affiliations,Yale University

[/table]

[table]

Year-Games,Sport,Event,Place,Medal

1924 Summer,Rowing,Coxed Eights,1,Gold

[/table]

Ben Spock ran track for one year at Yale and rowed crew for four years, but his college career pales beside his accomplishments afterwards. After college he started med school at Yale, then transferred to Columbia, where he earned his M.D. and became a pediatrician. As the author of Baby and Child Care, Dr. Spock is a name known to millions of parents in this country. The book was written while Spock practiced pediatrics in New York and sold over 25,000,000 copies. He also wrote five other books on child care.

During the 60s, Dr Benjamin Spock was in the news for other reasons. He took a strong stand against nuclear proliferation and participated in several protests against military escalation in Vietnam. In 1972, Ben Spock became the first former U.S. Olympic athlete to run for the United States presidency on the People’s Party ticket in 1972, but received only 78,759 votes (about 0.1%). He espoused radical political action and severe reduction of the military but received no electoral votes. After he retired from practicing medicine, he did some occasional public speaking, usually at universities or for the benefit of peace groups.