Surgeon General's warning: how politics crippled the nation's doctor

The monarch of public health -- Coming to power -- War and prominence -- The best seller -- The quicksand bureaucracy -- They are giving the public health service away! -- Bossed around -- Resurrection -- Drawn as villains -- You're on your own -- MIA -- America's doctor -- The surgeon general's demise.;What does it mean to be the nation's doctor? In this engaging narrative, journalist Mike Stobbe examines the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, underlining how it has always been an anomaly within the federal government with a unique ability to influence public health. But now Surgeon Generals compete with other high profile figures, like the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Furthermore, in an era of declining budgets, when public health departments eliminate tens of thousands of jobs, an invisible Surgeon General seems.