The Many Lives of the 13th Surgeon General

By 1981, the U.S. Surgeon General’s office was a shadow of its former self—no ships, no quarantine stations, barely a dozen staff, and one statutory duty: publish the annual smoking report. Yet the Reagan White House still saw an opportunity. They tapped Dr. C. Everett Koop, a pediatric surgery legend whose outspoken pro-life views looked perfect for them in shoring up the administration’s social-conservative base. In the final chapter of this three-part mini-series on the Public Health Insight Podcast, host Gordon Thane and biographer Dr. Nigel S. Cameron explore how Koop turned a “figurehead” job into the nation’s moral megaphone—taking on Big Tobacco, steering the federal response to HIV/AIDS, and redefining public-health leadership. References for Our Discussion ◼️Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General Guest ◼️Nigel S. Cameron on LinkedIn Host(s) & Producer(s) ◼️ Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP® Production Notes ◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room Subscribe to the Newsletter Subscribe to The Insight newsletter so you don’t miss out on the latest podcast episodes, live events, job skills, learning opportunities, and other engaging professional development content here. Leave Us Some Feedback If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We’d love to hear what you think. Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.