WASHINGTON — Paul Mango, an integral part of the Trump administration’s drive to invent coronavirus vaccines and treatments, has died at 65.
Mango joined former President Trump’s Health and Human Services Department in 2019 as deputy chief of staff. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he became the agency’s chief liaison to Operation Warp Speed, the record-breaking effort to develop new vaccines and medicines to counter the coronavirus pandemic.
He published a memoir about those months, “Warp Speed: Inside the Operation That Beat COVID, the Critics, and the Odds,” in 2022. In the book he lauded Moderna’s cooperation with the government in developing clinical trials and delivering millions of doses. He criticized Pfizer for a lack of transparency and not collaborating more with the Trump administration. But overall, he painted a picture of a national effort to overcome historical odds to develop new vaccines.
“Paul was a mentor and friend who dedicated his life to serving his country, who led a life of amazing accomplishment, and who will be dearly missed,” said Brian Blase, president of the Paragon Institute, where Mango worked as an adviser. Mango was “instrumental” in the success of Operation Warp Speed, Blase said.
Mango joined the transition team for Trump’s second presidency in October.
He previously worked for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and ran unsuccessfully to be governor of Pennsylvania, losing in the 2018 Republican primary.
“Paul was a masterful problem solver who played a key role in advancing our public health goals,” said Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner during the Trump administration. “He became the go-to person for our toughest challenges — because we all knew his unique ability to untangle complex issues and find solutions that others couldn’t.”
Mango began his career as an artillery officer for the U.S. Army after graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He received a master’s degree from Harvard University and spent more than two decades as a health care consultant with McKinsey & Company. He left McKinsey to pursue the Pennsylvania governorship.
The cause of death has not been publicly disclosed. Mango was married to Dawn Rucker and has five daughters.