An African-American physician who grew up in the South at a time when white physicians would not treat black people, Satcher was sworn in as the 16th surgeon general of the United States and assistant secretary for health on February 13, 1998. In these posts, he has tried to make good on his youthful pledge to "make the greatest difference to those with the greatest need."

Satcher was born near Anniston, Alabama, on his parents' farm. His father worked at a local foundry, and neither parent had any formal education. Satcher graduated as valedictorian from his segregated high school and went on to the distinguished, all-black Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, with a full scholarship. While there, he took an active part in the civil rights movement and was arrested several times for participating in sit-ins and other civil unrest. Satcher graduated magna cum laude from Morehouse in 1963, and enrolled...