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Nixon, meanwhile, had reached the edge of his patience. Elections were fast approaching in 1972. Earlier that year, commentators such as Bob Wiedrich from the Chicago Tribune had laid down the stakes: \u201cIf Richard Milhous Nixon . . . can achieve these two giant goals\u2014an end to the war in Vietnam and defeat of the ravages of cancer\u2014then he will have carved for himself in the history of this nation a niche of Lincolnesque proportions, for he will have done more than put a man on the moon.\u201d An end to the war in Vietnam was nowhere in sight, but a campaign against cancer seemed vastly more tractable, and Nixon was willing to force a cancer bill\u2014any cancer bill\u2014through Congress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n