From defusing bombs to dispelling myths: Meet Ronny Jackson, the White House doctor for 3 presidents who held an hour-long press conference on Trump's health
Alex Wong/Getty Images
All eyes turned to doctor and rear admiral Ronny Jackson as he gave his report on President Donald Trump's physical at a press conference on Tuesday, wearing a slick military suit displaying his various honors.
Jackson delivered his findings without the kind of fanfare and over-the-top bravado that Trump's personal doctor Harold N. Bornstein used when he said that Trump would be the "healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency" in 2015. But the Navy and Marines veteran still managed to raise some eyebrows with comments about Trump's "incredible genes."
Trump's measurements and overall good health that Jackson reported were called into question in the media and on Twitter, where celebrities and journalists alike claimed he had given a low-ball measurement of the president's weight, giving birth to the "Girther Movement" conspiracy. Others, like CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, claimed the numbers Jackson reported indicated that Trump had heart disease.
But Jackson has served in the White House for 12 years — personally caring for three presidents — and many former White House officials have lined up to defend his credibility.
Here is a rundown of his impressive and varied career:
Jackson was born in Levelland, Texas in 1967. He studied Marine Biology at Texas A&M University at Galveston before graduating from medical school at University of Texas Medical Branch in 1995.
US NavySource: US Navy
Jackson led an impressive career in the US Navy, gaining highly specialized skills in submarine medicine. He served for years in states from Florida to Hawaii, and trained to defuse bombs as part of an Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit in Sicily, Italy.
Thomson ReutersSources: Harvard Medical School, New England Journal of Medicine, US Navy
A few years after finishing his medical studies in 2001, Jackson was deployed to Iraq to serve as the Emergency Medicine Physician in the US Marine Corps. In 2006, he was chosen to be one of the White House physicians for former President George W. Bush.
Official White House Photo by Pete SouzaSources: Harvard Medical School, US Navy
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