Surgeon General of the United States

The Surgeon General of the United States is in charge of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC). They are the main spokesperson about things dealing with public health in the federal government. The Surgeon General's office and staff are known as the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG).

Surgeon General of the United States
Seal of the United States Public Health Service
Flag of the United States surgeon general
Incumbent Rear Admiral Denise Hinton Acting since January 20, 2025
U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
Style	Surgeon General Vice Admiral
Abbreviation	SG VADM
Reports to	United States Assistant Secretary for Health
Seat	Hubert H. Humphrey Building, United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Washington, D.C.
Appointer	President of the United States with United States Senate advice and consent
Term length	4 years
Constituting instrument	42 U.S.C. § 205 and 42 U.S.C. § 207
Formation	March 29, 1871
First holder	John M. Woodworth (as supervising surgeon)
Deputy	Deputy Surgeon General
Website	www.SurgeonGeneral.gov

Selection and current office-holder

The Surgeon General is chosen by the U.S. President and confirmed by the Senate. The Surgeon General serves for a four-year period of time. The Surgeon General is either the highest ranking or second highest ranking uniformed officer of the PHSCC. This depends on if the current Assistant Secretary for Health is a PHSCC commissioned officer or not. The position has the grade of a three-star vice admiral .^[1]

List of surgeons general of the United States

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Appointed by (term)	Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		John M. Woodworth (1837–1879)	March 29, 1871	March 14, 1879	7 years, 350 days	Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877)
2		Commodore John B. Hamilton (1847–1898)	April 3, 1879	June 1, 1891	12 years, 59 days	Rutherford B. Hayes (1877–1881)
3		Commodore Walter Wyman (1848–1911)	June 1, 1891	November 21, 1911	20 years, 173 days	Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893)
4		Commodore Rupert Blue (1868–1948)	January 13, 1912	March 3, 1920	8 years, 50 days	William Howard Taft (1909–1913)
5		Rear Admiral Hugh S. Cumming (1869–1948)	March 3, 1920	January 31, 1936	15 years, 334 days	Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921)
6		Rear Admiral Thomas Parran Jr. (1892–1968)	April 6, 1936	April 6, 1948	12 years, 0 days	Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945)
7		Rear Admiral Leonard A. Scheele (1907–1993)	April 6, 1948	August 8, 1956	8 years, 124 days	Harry S. Truman (1945–1953)
8		Rear Admiral Leroy E. Burney (1906–1998)	August 8, 1956	January 29, 1961	4 years, 174 days	Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961)
9		Luther Terry (1911–1985)	March 2, 1961	October 1, 1965	4 years, 213 days	John F. Kennedy (1961–1963)
10		William H. Stewart (1921–2008)	October 1, 1965	August 1, 1969	3 years, 304 days	Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969)
–		Rear Admiral Richard A. Prindle (c. 1926–2001) Acting	August 1, 1969	December 18, 1969	139 days	Richard Nixon (1969–1974)	[2][3]
11		Jesse L. Steinfeld (1927–2014)	December 18, 1969	January 30, 1973	3 years, 43 days		[4][5]
–		Rear Admiral S. Paul Ehrlich Jr. (1932–2005) Acting	January 31, 1973	July 13, 1977	4 years, 163 days		[6]
12		Vice Admiral Julius B. Richmond (1916–2008)	July 13, 1977	January 20, 1981	3 years, 191 days	Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)	[7]
–		Rear Admiral John C. Greene (1936–2016) Acting	January 21, 1981	May 14, 1981	113 days	Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)
–		Edward Brandt Jr. (1933–2007) Acting	May 14, 1981	January 21, 1982	252 days
13		Vice Admiral C. Everett Koop (1916–2013)	January 21, 1982	October 1, 1989	7 years, 253 days
–		Admiral James O. Mason (1930–2019) Acting	October 1, 1989	March 9, 1990	159 days	George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
14		Vice Admiral Antonia Novello (born 1944)	March 9, 1990	June 30, 1993	3 years, 113 days
–		Rear Admiral Robert A. Whitney (born 1935) Acting	July 1, 1993	September 8, 1993	69 days	Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
15		Vice Admiral Joycelyn Elders (born 1933)	September 8, 1993	December 31, 1994	1 year, 114 days
–		Rear Admiral Audrey F. Manley (born 1934) Acting	January 1, 1995	July 1, 1997	2 years, 180 days
–		Rear Admiral J. Jarrett Clinton (1938–2023) Acting	July 2, 1997	February 12, 1998	226 days
16		Admiral[a] David Satcher (born 1941)	February 13, 1998	February 12, 2002	3 years, 364 days		[8][9][10]
–		Rear Admiral Kenneth P. Moritsugu (born 1945) Acting	February 13, 2002	August 4, 2002	172 days	George W. Bush (2001–2009)	[11]
17		Vice Admiral Richard Carmona (born 1949)	August 5, 2002	July 31, 2006	3 years, 360 days		[12][13]
–		Rear Admiral Kenneth P. Moritsugu (born 1945) Acting	August 1, 2006	September 30, 2007	1 year, 60 days		[11]
–		Rear Admiral Steven K. Galson (born 1956) Acting	October 1, 2007	October 1, 2009	2 years, 0 days		[14]
–		Rear Admiral Donald L. Weaver Acting	October 1, 2009	November 3, 2009	33 days	Barack Obama (2009–2017)	[15]
18		Vice Admiral Regina Benjamin (born 1956)	November 3, 2009	July 16, 2013	3 years, 255 days		[16][15][17][18]
–		Rear Admiral Boris Lushniak Acting	July 17, 2013	December 18, 2014	1 year, 154 days		[19]
19		Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy (born 1977)	April 22, 2015	April 21, 2017	1 year, 364 days		[20][21]
–		Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams (born 1965) Acting	April 21, 2017	September 5, 2017	137 days	Donald Trump (2017–2021)	[22]
20		Vice Admiral Jerome Adams (born 1974)	September 5, 2017	January 20, 2021	3 years, 137 days		[23][24]
–		Rear Admiral Susan Orsega Acting	January 20, 2021	March 24, 2021	62 days	Joe Biden (2021–2025)	[25]
21		Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy (born 1977)	March 25, 2021	January 20, 2025	3 years, 301 days		[26][27]
–		Rear Admiral Denise Hinton Acting	January 20, 2025	Incumbent	208 days	Donald Trump (2025–present)
Nominee		Casey Means (born 1987)	TBD	Awaiting confirmation

Notes

1. Reverted to the rank of vice admiral in 2001, for the remainder of his term as surgeon general, when he no longer held the office of Assistant Secretary for Health.