In 1971 the richard nixon administration in the U.

S. declared a so-called 'war on cancer'. In his January 1971 State of the Union address, Nixon made a special request for an additional 100 million dollar to be added to the NCI budget for cancer research. In October 1971 he converted the Army's Fort Detrick, Maryland, biological warfare facility to a cancer research center. The resulting Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center eventually became an internationally recognized laboratory for cancer and AIDS research. However, President Nixon took a much bigger step when he signed the National Cancer Act into law on December 23, 1971, declaring, "I hope in the years ahead we will look back on this action today as the most significant action taken during my Administration."