C. Everett Koop, who raised the profile of the surgeon general by riveting America's attention on the then-emerging disease known as AIDS and by railing against smoking, died Monday in New Hampshire. He was 96.

An assistant at Koop's Dartmouth institute, Susan Wills, said he died in Hanover, where he had a home. She didn't disclose the cause of his death.

Koop wielded the previously low-profile post of surgeon general as a bully pulpit for seven years during the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.

An evangelical Christian, he shocked his conservative supporters when he endorsed condoms and sex education to stop the spread of AIDS.

He carried out a crusade to end smoking in the United States his goal had been to do so by 2000. A former pipe smoker, he said cigarettes were as addictive as heroin and cocaine.

Koop's impact was great, although the surgeon general has no real authority to set government policy. He described himself as "the health conscience of the country."

"My only influence was through moral suasion," Koop said just before leaving office in 1989.

By then, his Amish-style silver beard and white braided uniform were instantly recognizable.

Out of office, he switched to business suits and bow ties but continued to promote public health causes, from preventing childhood accidents to better training for doctors.

"I will use the written word, the spoken word and whatever I can in the electronic media to deliver health messages to this country as long as people will listen," he promised.

Read the original post:
C. Everett Koop, ex-surgeon general, dies in NH