Some Republicans in the Senate disagreed with certain CDC programs during the Satcher's directorship--needle exchange and condom distribution policies were among the most disputed.

Anti-abortion activists, upset that Satcher agreed with President Clinton's pro-choice stance, also fought against his appointment.

"I think there are many people in the Republican Party who were not going to let the president have another surgeon general," Satcher says.

This controversy came just three years after the dismissal of Joycelyn M. Elders from the surgeon general post. Elders was removed because of a comment she made about masturbation and her admission that she would be willing to consider the decriminalization of marijuana.

Since Elders' departure in 1994, Henry W. Foster Jr. was denied Senate confirmation to be surgeon general because he had been involved in performing abortions, and acting surgeon general Audrey F. Manely resigned to become the president of Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga.

Satcher was eventually confirmed by the Senate on February 10, 1998 and took the surgeon general's oath three days later. He is the second surgeon general to simultaneously hold the post of assistant secretary of health.

The Pulse of the CDC

Many of the health policies Satcher currently advocates have been a part of his agenda for years.

At the CDC, Satcher worked to provide healthcare to the most needy Americans.

"The job was consistent with my vision of making a difference to people who needed it most," Satcher says.

Thena Durham, head of the executive secretariat at the CDC, says that Satcher always had national goals in sight, even as director.

"He looked at the health issues with an eye toward not only what we needed to do today, but also what we needed to do for the long-term," Durham says. "He created an environment in which it was the norm to look at things from a broader perspective."

Durham says that Satcher had the medically under-privileged in mind from the very beginnings of his career.

"He could have gone anywhere as a young physician," Durham says, "but he chose Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, which is primarily a hispanic-serving institution where most people consider an urban ghetto."

In addition to providing treatment plans for needy people, Satcher also emphasized prevention programs. During his term as director, the breast-cancer-screening program expanded from 18 to all 50 states. Satcher also created initiatives to promote childhood immunization.