42 years ago when President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act and vowed to make curing cancer a national crusade, many anticipated quick results.  That expectation was raised in part by the PR campaign, complete with ads suggesting we could cure cancer by the bicentennial, that successfully pushed President Nixon to support what came to be called his “War on Cancer.”

Reference: http://www.retroreport.org/video/the-long-war-on-cancer/