The surgeon general of the United States is the operational head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus a leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government of the United States. The surgeon general's office and staff are known as the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG), which is housed within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.
The U.S. surgeon general is nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. The surgeon general must be appointed from individuals who are members of the regular corps of the United States Public Health Service and have specialized training or significant experience in public health programs. However, there is no time requirement for membership in the Public Health Service before holding the office of the Surgeon General, and nominees traditionally were appointed as members of the Public Health Service and as surgeon general at the same time. The surgeon general serves a four-year term of office and, depending on whether the current assistant secretary for health is a commissioned corps officer, is either the senior or next-most senior uniformed officer of the commissioned corps, holding the rank of vice admiral.
Responsibilities
The surgeon general reports to the assistant secretary for health (ASH). The ASH may be a four-star admiral in the commissioned corps, and serves as the principal advisor to the secretary of health and human services on public health and scientific issues. The surgeon general is the overall head of the commissioned corps, a 6,500-member cadre of uniformed health professionals who are on call 24 hours a day and can be dispatched by the secretary of HHS or by the assistant secretary for health in the event of a public health emergency.
The surgeon general is also the ultimate award authority for several public health awards and decorations, the highest of which that can be directly awarded is the Surgeon General's Medallion (the highest award bestowed by board action is the Public Health Service Distinguished Service 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 label that has been present on all packages of American tobacco cigarettes since 1966. A similar health warning has appeared on alcoholic beverages labels since 1988.
History
thumb|The landmark 1964 Surgeon General's report on Smoking and Health.
In 1798, Congress established the Marine Hospital Fund, a network of hospitals that cared for sick and disabled seamen. The Marine Hospital Fund was reorganized along military lines in 1870 and became the Marine Hospital Service—the predecessor to today's United States Public Health Service. The service became a separate bureau of the Treasury Department with its own staff, administration, headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the position of supervising surgeon, later surgeon general.
After 141 years under the Treasury Department, the Service came under the Federal Security Agency in 1939, then the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) in 1953, and finally the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Prior to 1970, the surgeon general was traditionally selected from career uniformed officers. Today, the surgeon general is usually selected from the civilian community, who aligns more closely with the president's political party. sparking nationwide anti-smoking efforts. Terry and his committee defined cigarette smoking of nicotine as not an addiction. The committee itself consisted largely of physicians who themselves smoked. This report went uncorrected for 24 years.
- In 1986, C. Everett Koop's report on AIDS called for some form of AIDS education in the early grades of elementary school, and gave full support for using condoms for disease prevention. He also resisted pressure from the Reagan administration to report that abortion was psychologically harmful to women, stating he believed it was a moral issue rather than one concerning the public health.
- In 1994, Joycelyn Elders spoke at a United Nations conference on AIDS. She was asked whether it would be appropriate to promote masturbation as a means of preventing young people from engaging in riskier forms of sexual activity. She replied, "I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught." Elders also spoke in favor of studying drug legalization. In a reference to the national abortion issue, she said, "We really need to get over this love affair with the fetus and start worrying about children." She was fired by President Bill Clinton in December 1994.
The U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force also have officers overseeing medical matters in their respective services who hold the title Surgeon General, of their respective services, while the surgeon general of the United States is surgeon general of the entire nation.
The insignia of the surgeon general, and the USPHS, use the caduceus as opposed to the Rod of Asclepius.
Service rank
The surgeon general is a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, one of the eight uniformed services of the United States, and by law holds the rank of vice admiral. John Maynard Woodworth (1837–1879, served 1871–1879), was the first holder of the office as "supervising surgeon."
<gallery class="center" caption="Insignia">
PHSCC Collar Device.png|US Public Health Service Collar Device
CAP DEVICE UNMOUNTED PHS.PNG|US Public Health Service Cap Device
US PHS O9 insignia.svg|The stars, shoulder boards, and sleeve stripes of the surgeon general
</gallery>
List of surgeons general of the United States
The following persons have served as Surgeon General of the United States:
{|class="toccolours"
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{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! scope=col rowspan=2 |
! scope=col rowspan=2 | Portrait
! scope=col rowspan=2 | Name<br />
! scope=col colspan=3 | Term of office
! scope=col rowspan=2 | Appointed by<br />
! scope=col rowspan=2 |
|-
! scope=col | Took office
! scope=col | Left office
! scope=col | Time in office
|-
| 1
| 75px
| John M. Woodworth<br />
| March 29, 1871
| March 14, 1879
|
| Ulysses S. Grant<br />
|
|-
| 2
| 101x101px
| Commodore<br />John B. Hamilton<br />
| April 3, 1879
| June 1, 1891
|
| Rutherford B. Hayes<br />
|
|-
| 3
| 75px
| Commodore<br />Walter Wyman<br />
| June 1, 1891
| November 21, 1911
|
| Benjamin Harrison<br />
|
|-
| 4
| 75px
| Commodore<br />Rupert Blue<br />
| January 13, 1912
| March 3, 1920
|
| William Howard Taft<br />
|
|-
| 5
| 75px
| Rear Admiral<br />Hugh S. Cumming<br />
| March 3, 1920
| January 31, 1936
|
| Woodrow Wilson<br />
|
|-
| 6
| 75px
| Rear Admiral<br />Thomas Parran<br />
| April 6, 1936
| April 6, 1948
|
| Franklin D. Roosevelt<br />
|
|-
| 7
| 97x97px
| Rear Admiral<br />Leonard A. Scheele<br />
| April 6, 1948
| August 8, 1956
|
| Harry S. Truman<br />
|
|-
| 8
| 75px
| Rear Admiral<br />Leroy E. Burney<br /><small>(1906–1998)</small>
| August 8, 1956
| January 29, 1961
|
| Dwight D. Eisenhower<br />
|
|-
| 9
| 75px
| Luther Terry<br />
| March 2, 1961
| October 1, 1965
|
| John F. Kennedy<br />
|
|-
| 10
| 75px
| William H. Stewart<br />
| October 1, 1965
| August 1, 1969
|
| Lyndon B. Johnson<br />
|
|-
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| –
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| Rear Admiral<br />Richard A. Prindle<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| August 1, 1969
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| December 18, 1969
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
| rowspan=3| Richard Nixon<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
|-
| 11
| 75px
| Jesse L. Steinfeld<br />
| December 18, 1969
| January 30, 1973
|
|
|- style="background:#e6e6aa;"
| –
| 96x96px
| Rear Admiral<br />S. Paul Ehrlich Jr.<br />
| January 31, 1973
| July 13, 1977
|
|
|-
| 12
| 75px
| Vice Admiral<br />Julius B. Richmond<br />
| July 13, 1977
| January 20, 1981
|
| Jimmy Carter<br />
|
|-
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| –
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| frameless|75px
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| Rear Admiral<br />John C. Greene<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| January 21, 1981
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| May 14, 1981
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
| rowspan=3| Ronald Reagan<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
|- style="background:#e6e6aa;"
| –
|<!-- Note to editors: POSSIBLE sources of public domain photos: [ https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101441133-img https://nihrecord.nih.gov/sites/recordNIH/files/pdf/1981/NIH-Record-1981-03-17.pdf ] A careful search of the online back issues of the NIH Record might yield more candidates. -->
| Edward Brandt Jr.<br />
| May 14, 1981
| January 21, 1982
|
|
|-
| 13
| 75px
| Vice Admiral<br />C. Everett Koop<br />
| January 21, 1982
| October 1, 1989
|
|
|-
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| –
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| 75px
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| Admiral<br />James O. Mason<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| October 1, 1989
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| March 9, 1990
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
| rowspan=2| George H. W. Bush<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
|-
| 14
| 75px
| Vice Admiral<br />Antonia Novello<br />
| March 9, 1990
| June 30, 1993
|
|
|-
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| –
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| 75px
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| Rear Admiral<br />Robert A. Whitney<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| July 1, 1993
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| September 8, 1993
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
| rowspan=5| Bill Clinton<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
|-
| 15
| 75px
| Vice Admiral<br />Joycelyn Elders<br />
| September 8, 1993
| December 31, 1994
|
|
|- style="background:#e6e6aa;"
| –
| 75px
| Rear Admiral<br />Audrey F. Manley<br />
| January 1, 1995
| July 1, 1997
|
|
|- style="background:#e6e6aa;"
| –
| 75px
| Rear Admiral<br />J. Jarrett Clinton<br />
| July 2, 1997
| February 12, 1998
|
|
|-
| 16
| 75px
| Admiral<br />David Satcher<br />
| February 13, 1998
| February 12, 2002
|
| <br />
|-
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| –
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| 75px
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| Rear Admiral<br />Kenneth P. Moritsugu<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| February 13, 2002
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| August 4, 2002
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
| rowspan=4| George W. Bush<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
|-
| 17
| 75px
| Vice Admiral<br />Richard Carmona<br />
| August 5, 2002
| July 31, 2006
|
|
|- style="background:#e6e6aa;"
| –
| 75px
| Rear Admiral<br />Kenneth P. Moritsugu<br />
| August 1, 2006
| September 30, 2007
|
|
|-
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| –
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| 75px
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| Rear Admiral<br />Donald L. Weaver<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| October 1, 2009
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| November 3, 2009
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
| rowspan=4| Barack Obama<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| <br />
|- style="background:#e6e6aa;"
| –
| 75px
| Rear Admiral<br />Boris Lushniak<br />
| July 17, 2013
| December 18, 2014
|
|
|-
| 19
| 75px
| Vice Admiral<br />Vivek Murthy<br />
| April 22, 2015
| April 21, 2017
|
|
|-
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| –
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| 75px
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| Rear Admiral<br />Sylvia Trent-Adams<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| April 21, 2017
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| September 5, 2017
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
| rowspan="2" | Donald Trump<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
|-
| 20
| 75px
| Vice Admiral<br />Jerome Adams<br />
| September 5, 2017
| January 20, 2021
|
|
|-
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| –
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| 75px
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| Rear Admiral<br />Susan Orsega<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| January 20, 2021
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"| March 24, 2021
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
| rowspan="2" | Joe Biden<br />
| style="background:#e6e6aa;"|
|-
| 21
| 75px
| Vice Admiral<br />Vivek Murthy<br />
| March 24, 2021
| January 20, 2025
|
|
|}
See also
- Chief Medical Officer (Ireland)
- Chief Medical Officer (United Kingdom)
- Chief Public Health Officer of Canada
- Medical Officer of Health
- Surgeon General
- Surgeon General of the United States Air Force
- Surgeon General of the United States Army
- Surgeon General of the United States Navy
Notes
References
External links
- Official website of the U.S. Surgeon General
- Previous Surgeons General
- Reports of the Surgeon General from the National Library of Medicine's "Profiles in Science"