Sen. Bill Frist

enate Majority Leader Bill Frist has never needed much sleep. The 51-year-old Nashville, Tenn., native used his hyperkinetic energy to pull almost-all-nighters for a couple of months in 2002 to write a book with advice on how to stay safe at a time of threats of bioterrorism attacks.

He wrote When Every Moment Counts: What You Need to Know About Bioterrorism From the Senate's Only

Doctor (Rowman & Littlefield, 2002) in the wake of the discovery of anthrax-laced letters on Capitol Hill in the fall of 2001. The presence of anthrax resulted in the shutdown of the Senate Hart Office Building for three months. During that period, Frist was a reassuring presence, providing information in briefings and on his office Web site.

Frist told National Journal shortly after the book was published that his goal was to explain that "the risk is real, the risk is increasing, our vulnerabilities are high, [and] we are going to need the American people to [be vigilant to] reduce the vulnerabilities. It can't all be government."

He also teamed with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to co-author sweeping bioterrorism-preparedness legislation that President Bush signed into law in June 2002.

Frist was a pioneering heart and lung transplant specialist before jumping into politics to capture a Senate seat in 1994. He cut his teeth during late-night studying at Harvard University Medical School and Princeton University. He became majority leader in December 2002 when Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., stepped down after making racially insensitive remarks. Critics suggest that Frist could use his perch to push the administration to do more to combat bioterrorism. "He is in a position to grab the administration by the throat and drag them to a point of reality and . . . to be blunt, he just hasn't done it yet," said a critic who has followed this issue closely.