Dr. Louis Edward Bisch (1885 – 1963) was an odd duck, well known in his day for making numerous indefensible statements – a psychiatrist who championed tobacco use in all forms. Although tobacco had been under suspicion by the medical community since the 1880s, Bisch was quite certain that there was nothing to worry about:
“Smoking has been maligned long enough! It’s been the whipping boy of health fanatics for years. It is high time somebody took up cudgels in its defense!… I believe in smoking. As a doctor I recommend it. I claim tobacco is one of the greatest boons ever given to mankind.”
“And note this well! The outstanding leaders of the Allied Nations are, for the most part, over sixty and they smoke. President Roosevelt is 60. He smokes cigarettes. Winston Churchill, 68, is seldom seen without his cigar. [U.S. Secretary of State] Cordell Hull, a smoker since 70. [Director of War Production] General Knudsen, 63, and [Pacific Fleet] Admiral Hart, 65, both smoke. (Incidentally, Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini don’t)
