Surgeon General of the United States

The Surgeon General of the United States is the head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the U.S. government. His (or her) office and staff are known as the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG).

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The Surgeon General is nominated by the U.S. President and confirmed via majority vote by the Senate. The Surgeon General serves a four year term of office and is commissioned as a three-star Vice Admiral in the PHSCC.^[1] 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, and is the overall head of the United States Public Health Service (PHS).

The former Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Richard Carmona, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002, left office when his term expired on July 31, 2006.^[2] Rear Admiral Steven K. Galson is functioning as the Acting Surgeon General.^[3]

On May 24, 2007, President Bush nominated Dr. James W. Holsinger, Jr., a University of Kentucky medical professor to be the 18th Surgeon General of the United States.^[4]

The Surgeon General functions under the direction of the Assistant Secretary for Health and operationally heads the 6,000-member Commissioned Corps of the USPHS, a cadre of health professionals who are on call 24 hours a day, and can be dispatched by the Secretary of HHS or 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 Medal (the highest award bestowed by board action is the 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 labels that can be found on all packages of American cigarettes. A health warning also appears on alcoholic beverages.

Past American Surgeons General have often been characterized by their outspoken personalities and often controversial proposals on how to reform the U.S. 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. Vice Admiral C. Everett Koop and Vice Admiral Joycelyn Elders were two former Surgeons General who were well known for their controversial ideas, especially on sex education.

The U.S. Public Health Service was under the direction of the Office of the Surgeon General and 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. Although the U.S. Public Health Service and the Surgeon General were at various times under the umbrella of the Department of the Treasury or the Federal Security Agency, the agency operated with a substantial amount of independence.

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

Service rank

The Surgeon General is a commissioned officer in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, one of the seven uniformed services of the United States, and by law holds the rank of Vice Admiral^[1]. Officers of the PHSCC and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps (NOAA Corps) are classified as non-combatants, but can be subjected to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the Geneva Conventions when designated by the Commander-in-Chief as a military force. Officer members of these services wear uniforms that are similar to those worn by the U.S. Navy, except that the commissioning devices, buttons, and insignia are unique. Officers in PHS and NOAA wear unique devices which are similar to U.S. Navy Staffing Corps Officers (e.g., Medical Services Corps, Supply Corps, etc).

Surgeons General of the United States

No.	Name	Term of Office	Appointed by
1	VADM John Maynard Woodworth	March 29, 1871–March 14, 1879	Ulysses S. Grant
2	VADM John B. Hamilton	April 3, 1879–June 1, 1891	Rutherford B. Hayes
3	VADM Walter Wyman	June 1, 1891–November 21, 1911	Benjamin Harrison
4	VADM Rupert Blue	January 13, 1912–March 3, 1920	William Taft
5	VADM Hugh S. Cumming	March 3, 1920–January 31, 1936	Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge
6	VADM Thomas Parran, Jr.	April 6, 1936–April 6, 1948	Franklin D. Roosevelt
7	VADM Leonard A. Scheele	April 6, 1948–August 8, 1956	Harry S. Truman
8	VADM LeRoy Edgar Burney	August 1, 1956–January 29, 1961	Dwight Eisenhower
9	VADM Luther Leonidas Terry	March 2, 1961–October 1 1965	John F. Kennedy
10	VADM William H. Stewart	October 1, 1965–August 1, 1969	Lyndon Johnson
11	VADM Jesse Leonard Steinfeld	December 18, 1969–June 30, 1973	Richard Nixon
	RADM Paul Ehrlich, Jr (acting)	July 1, 1973–July 13, 1977	Richard Nixon
12	VADM Julius B. Richmond	July 13, 1977–May 14, 1981	Jimmy Carter
	RADM Edward Brandt, Jr. (acting)	May 14, 1981–January 21, 1982	Ronald Reagan
13	VADM C. Everett Koop	January 21, 1982–October 1, 1989	Ronald Reagan
	RADM James O. Mason (acting)	October 1, 1989–March 9, 1990	George H. W. Bush
14	VADM Antonia Coello Novello	March 9, 1990–June 30, 1993	George H. W. Bush
	RADM Robert A. Whitney (acting)	July 1, 1993–September 8, 1993	Bill Clinton
15	VADM Joycelyn Elders	September 8, 1993–December 31, 1994	Bill Clinton
	RADM Audrey F. Manley (acting)	January 1, 1995–July 1, 1997	Bill Clinton
16	ADM David Satcher	February 13, 1998–February 12, 2002	Bill Clinton
	RADM Kenneth P. Moritsugu (acting)	February 13, 2002— August 4, 2002	George W. Bush
17	VADM Richard Carmona	August 5, 2002– July 31, 2006	George W. Bush
	RADM Kenneth P. Moritsugu (acting)	August 1, 2006— September 30, 2007	George W. Bush
	RADM Steven K. Galson (acting)	October 1, 2007—	George W. Bush

References

^ ^a ^b Public Health, Commissioned Corps Uniforms and Ranks.
^ Yahoo! News, retrieved 08-01-2006.
^ Office of the Surgeon General Home Page.
^ Kentucky.com, retrieved 05-25-2006.

Categories: Surgeons General of the United States | United States Department of Health and Human Services

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