Dr. Koop
The Many Lives of the Surgeon General
When Ronald Reagan chose C. Everett Koop to be Surgeon General of the United States in 1981, liberal politicians, women's groups, and even the public health community opposed the nomination because of his conservative social views and strong anti-abortion beliefs. By the time he left office in 1989, the same people who had vilified him as “Dr. Kook” were singing his praises, and many conservative politicians and activists who had championed his nomination were criticizing him as a traitor. He had also become “the only surgeon general [who was] a household name,” according to the Associated Press, because of his ubiquitous media exposure around the HIV/AIDS crisis, his unique look, and his savvy with the press. How had Koop remade himself and this once major government office, which sounded grand but in the 1960s had been stripped to a minor advisory role?
As Nigel M. de S. Cameron shows, Koop was, above all, guided in his decisions by his unwavering physician’s commitment to saving lives. Even in the face of political pressures and what many expected to be his personal beliefs, he focused on science and public health. On smoking, abortion, and AIDS he openly defied Republican politicians and alienated New Right conservatives because his reading of the science did not support their ideologies. It was this adherence to science, health, and office that led him to refuse to campaign on abortion, seek compromise on the disabled “Baby Doe” case, relentlessly go after Big Tobacco, and finally reach out to the gay community as AIDS and fear of AIDS exploded. Both supporters and detractors consistently misjudged him.
This first full biography of Koop draws on thousands of documents and hundreds of interviews with family, friends, and colleagues to tell the story of the precocious boy from Brooklyn who was already the world’s most celebrated pediatric surgeon when he became Surgeon General and one of the most recognizable public figures in late-20th century America. Koop remains a sterling example—to both left and right—of how public officials should conduct themselves.
‘In this lively and comprehensive biography, Nigel M. de S. Cameron traces the life and work of one of the late twentieth century’s most riveting figures. The portrait of C. Everett Koop that emerges in these pages is that of a deeply religious man and principled contrarian whose prodigious accomplishments—as a pediatric surgeon, public health official, prolife and anti-tobacco crusader, advocate for the victims of AIDS, and health reformer—were matched (and likely driven) by his monumental ego. This thoroughly researched and textured account will be the definitive biography for decades to come.’—Randall Balmer, author of Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter
‘Cameron breaks past the reductive caricatures of Koop to give readers a balanced picture of this free thinker and controversial man who revolutionized the field of medicine, the office of the surgeon general, and the evangelical church. Cameron deserves applause for his striking biography of Koop.’—Anthony Eames, author of A Voice in Their Own Destiny: Reagan, Thatcher, and Public Diplomacy in the Nuclear 1980s
