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1964: First Surgeon General's Report

On January 11, 1964, 200 reporters were locked into the State Department's auditorium to hear a two hour briefing by surgeon general Dr. Luther L. Terry and other experts on a brown paperback book titled "Smoking and Health." The security measures were felt necessary because of the Surgeon General report's bold and closely-guarded verdict.

In 1964, the US was a country where over 50% of adult males smoked; 46% of all Americans smoked; where smoking was accepted in offices, airplanes and elevators, and where even cartoon TV programs were sponsored by cigarette brands.

It was a country where a multi-billion dollar industry and a way of life were severely threatened by the Surgeon General Report's astounding conclusion: smoking causes cancer.

"It was a very dramatic and courageous thing to do," said Joseph Califano, the top domestic policy aide to President Johnson.

But the Johnson Administration had enough on its plate, and didn't want to complicate more pressing issues by addressing the implications. "We wanted to get schools integrated, the voters' rights act passed, fair housing passed. And all of those things required us to take on the whole phalanx of Southern states," Califano has said.

Within 3 months of Terry's report, cigarette consumption had dropped 20%; it would soon to climb back, and even grow.

Smoking rates since 1965, from National Health Interview Surveys compiled by the U.S. Office on Smoking and Health.

% US Adult

Smokers in:  %ALL         % Men       % Women
1965         42.4          51.9          33.9
1966         42.6          52.5          33.9
1970         37.4          44.1          31.5
1974         37.1          43.1          32.1
1976         36.4          41.9          32.0
1977         36.0          40.9          32.1
1978         34.1          38.1          30.7
1979         33.5          37.5          29.9
1980         33.2          37.6          29.3
1983         32.1          35.1          29.5
1985         30.1          32.6          27.9
1987         28.8          31.2          26.5
1988         28.1          30.8          25.7
1990         25.5          28.4          22.8
1991         25.7          28.1          23.5

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