Julius Richmond, surgeon general under Carter, dies
Note from PNHP: Dr. Richmond was an ardent supporter of single payer national health insurance
By Bryan Marquard
Globe Staff
July 29, 2008 06:34 PM
Poverty undercuts the ability of the young to learn, Dr. Julius B. Richmond realized during research half a century ago, and he drew from his findings to launch Project Head Start, a federal program that has helped millions of children since its inception in 1965.
“It really is a remarkable legacy to his career, how many graduates of Head Start programs there are all over the country who have benefited from early childhood care and education,” said Allan Brandt, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.
Dr. Richmond, who also served as US surgeon general under President Jimmy Carter, died in his Chestnut Hill home Sunday. He was 91 and as recently as May was still spending a few hours each day in his office at Harvard, where was a professor emeritus, despite having been diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago.
“Jimmy and I are saddened to learn of the loss of our dear friend and colleague Dr. Julius Richmond,” Rosalynn Carter, the former first lady, said in a statement issued today. “Julie was a wonderful and compassionate champion in the fight to improve health, mental health, and educational opportunities for our nation’s children. All Americans have benefited from his decades of leadership in advancing the health care needs of our country.”
In a career that ranged from serving as a flight surgeon in the Army Air Corps during World War II to serving as surgeon general from 1977 to 1981, Dr. Richmond left few areas of medicine untouched.
Even at 90, Dr. Richmond was weighing in on national medical issues, decrying the lack of universal health coverage.
“The financiers don’t want government intervention,” Dr. Richmond told the Globe in October 2006. “It’s such an embarrassment that I think the issue will resurface, but it’s difficult for the political figures in Washington to formulate a plan.”
The intersection of public need, political will, and public policy was something Dr. Richmond thought about frequently.
“He often used three variables to describe the most significant elements of public policy,” Brandt said. “He would ask, ‘Do we know enough, what’s the knowledge base?’ Then he would ask, ‘Is there the political will to apply what we know?’ Then he would ask, ‘Do we have a social strategy to bring the knowledge and the politics together in a productive way?’ He was a great analytic thinker and was always thinking about what we need to do to improve a particular situation.”
The family plans to hold a private service and Harvard will announce a public memorial service.