Search

The Online Encyclopedia and Dictionary

 
     
 

Encyclopedia

Dictionary

Quotes

   
 

Surgeon General of the United States

(Redirected from United States Surgeon General)

The Surgeon General of the United States is the leading spokesman on matters of public health in the Government of the United States. The Surgeon General is appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of The United States Senate for a 4-year term of office. In carrying out all responsibilities, the Surgeon General reports to the Assistant Secretary for Health, who is the principal advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on public health and scientific issues.

The Surgeon General holds the rank of Vice Admiral (VADM) and heads the 6,000-member Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service, a troop of emergency health professionals who are on call 24 hours a day, and can be dispatched by the Surgeon General in the event of a public health emergency. In 1999, then Surgeon General VADM David Satcher established the Surgeon General's Honor Corps, an elite organization of officers who have demonstrated exceptional commitment and dedication to, and pride in, the Commissioned Corps. The Surgeon General is also the ultimate award authority for several Public Health awards and decorations, the highest of which is the Surgeon General's Medal.

The Surgeon General also has many informal duties, such as educating the American public about health issues, and advocating healthy lifestyle choices.

The office also periodically issues health warnings. Perhaps the best known example of this is the "Surgeon General's Warning" labels that can be found on all packages of American cigarettes.

Past American Surgeons General have often been characterized by their outspoken personalities and often controversial proposals on how to reform the US health system. Because the office is not a particularly powerful one, and has little direct impact on policy-making, Surgeons General are often vocal advocates of unconventional, unusual, or even unpopular health policies. General C. Everett Koop and Joycelyn Elders were two former Surgeons General who were well-known for their controversial ideas, especially on sex education.

The Office of the Surgeon General was an independent government agency until 1953 at which point it was integrated into the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and later into the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

The U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force also have officers overseeing medical matters in their respective services who hold the title Surgeon General.

Outside the US the term chief medical officer is a common equivalent.

United States Surgeons General


Name Term of Office Appointed by
John Maynard Woodworth March 29, 1871March 14, 1879 Ulysses S. Grant
John B. Hamilton April 3, 1879June 1, 1891 Rutherford B. Hayes
Walter Wyman June 1, 1891November 21, 1911 Benjamin Harrison
Rupert Blue January 13, 1912March 3, 1920 William Taft
Hugh S. Cumming March 3, 1920January 31, 1936 Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge
Thomas Parran April 6, 1936April 6, 1948 Franklin D. Roosevelt
Leonard A. Scheele April 6, 1948August 8, 1956 Harry S. Truman
LeRoy Edgar Burney August 1, 1956January 29, 1961 Dwight Eisenhower
Luther Leonidas Terry March 2, 1961October 1 1965 John F. Kennedy
William H. Stewart October 1, 1965August 1, 1969 Lyndon Johnson
Jesse Leonard Steinfeld December 18, 1969June 30, 1973 Richard Nixon
Paul Ehrlich, Jr (acting) July 1, 1973July 13, 1977 Richard Nixon
Julius B. Richmond July 13, 1977May 14, 1981 Jimmy Carter
Edward Brandt, Jr. (acting) May 14, 1981January 21, 1982 Jimmy Carter
C. Everett Koop January 21, 1982October 1, 1989 Ronald Reagan
James O. Mason (acting) October 1, 1989March 9, 1990 George H. W. Bush
Antonia Coello Novello March 9, 1990June 30, 1993 George H. W. Bush
Robert A. Whitney (acting) July 1, 1993September 8, 1993 Bill Clinton
Joycelyn Elders September 8, 1993December 31, 1994 Bill Clinton
Audrey F. Manley (acting) January 1, 1995July 1, 1997 Bill Clinton
David Satcher February 13, 1998August 5, 2002 Bill Clinton
Richard Carmona August 5, 2002 George W. Bush

External links

Last updated: 05-18-2005 14:25:28