Koop, C. Everett (1916–)

After 3 decades as a world-renowned pediatric surgeon, C. Everett Koop became Surgeon General of the United States in 1981. During his two terms in office, Koop took an almost marginalized public health position and transformed it into one of the nation's most prominent health offices. In the process he tackled such controversial topics as abortion, smoking, and AIDS.

Born in 1916, Charles Everett Koop grew up captivated by medicine (in his teens, Koop volunteered at New York–area hospitals and frequently stole into viewing galleries to view surgeries). He studied zoology at Dartmouth College and medicine at Cornell University Medical College. After his internship and surgical residency, Koop accepted an appointment as the first surgeon-in-chief at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Over the next 3 decades, Koop helped establish the field of pediatric surgery with innovations in pediatric anesthesia, hernia correction, esophageal atrasia surgery, hydrocephalus, conjoined twin surgery, and neonatal intensive care services.

These innovations forced Koop to wrestle with medical ethics, leading him to a religious conversion in 1948. After Roe v. Wade, Koop grew increasingly public with his belief that abortion cheapened human dignity and could lead to widespread acceptance of infanticide and euthanasia among the disabled and marginalized. He articulated this argument in his 1976 book, The Right to Live, the Right to Die, and expanded on it his 1978 multicity film and lecture series with theologian Francis Schaeffer titled Whatever Happened to the Human Race? Observers believe this series helped usher countless conservative Protestants into the pro-life movement.

His pro-life efforts brought him to the attention of President Ronald Reagan, who nominated him as U.S. Surgeon General in March 1981. Democrats opposed his confirmation for months, but Koop was eventually confirmed in November 1981.

After his nomination, Koop became a staunch opponent of smoking. Beginning with his 1982 Surgeon General report on smoking, Koop published four consecutive reports connecting smoking to chronic disease. His 1986 involuntary smoking report made smoking an issue of community health, and his 1988 nicotine addiction report redefined popular views of smoking. Additionally, drawing on his pro-life activism, Koop launched the “Campaign for a [Page 807]Smoke-Free America by the Year 2000” in 1984. These efforts gave practical, moral, and scientific ammunition to the anti-smoking movement, ultimately helping to reduce the number of smokers from 33% to 26% between 1981 and 1989.

Perhaps Koop's most important action came in relation to the emerging AIDS pandemic. While he was confirmed as Surgeon General only months after the first cases of AIDS had been reported to the medical community, Koop was not permitted to involve himself with the AIDS crisis until 1985. In 1986, President Reagan asked Koop to issue a report on AIDS, which he released in October of that year. The report made an immediate sensation for its comprehensive content and compassionate response. In the report's wake, Koop traveled the country for the next 2 years making AIDS education and prevention a primary message. While public officials had made almost 20 million copies of his initial 36-page report available to the public, Congress funded the mailing of 107 million copies of Koop's abridged report to every American household in May 1988. By the end of Koop's tenure, the epidemic had slowed among white men who had sex with men and few Americans had not heard of the infection and how to avoid it. Nonetheless, the epidemic continued to spread among the poor, women, minorities, and Southerners. Koop's efforts were an important step in what would prove a long-term battle against the epidemic.

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