| Name |
Term of Office |
Appointed by |
| John Maynard Woodworth |
March 29, 1871–March 14, 1879 |
Ulysses S. Grant |
| John B. Hamilton |
April 3, 1879–June 1, 1891 |
Rutherford B. Hayes |
| Walter Wyman |
June 1, 1891–November 21, 1911 |
Benjamin Harrison |
| Rupert Blue |
January 13, 1912–March 3, 1920 |
William Taft |
| Hugh S. Cumming |
March 3, 1920–January 31, 1936 |
Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge |
| Thomas Parran |
April 6, 1936–April 6, 1948 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Leonard A. Scheele |
April 6, 1948–August 8, 1956 |
Harry S. Truman |
| LeRoy Edgar Burney |
August 1, 1956–January 29, 1961 |
Dwight Eisenhower |
| Luther Leonidas Terry |
March 2, 1961–October 1, 1965 |
John F. Kennedy |
| William H. Stewart |
October 1, 1965–August 1, 1969 |
Lyndon Johnson |
| Jesse Leonard Steinfeld |
December 18, 1969–June 30, 1973 |
Richard Nixon |
| Paul Ehrlich, Jr (acting) |
July 1, 1973–July 13, 1977 |
Richard Nixon |
| Julius B. Richmond |
July 13, 1977–May 14, 1981 |
Jimmy Carter |
| Edward Brandt, Jr. (acting) |
May 14, 1981–January 21, 1982 |
Ronald Reagan |
| C. Everett Koop |
January 21, 1982–October 1, 1989 |
Ronald Reagan |
| James O. Mason (acting) |
October 1, 1989–March 9, 1990 |
George H. W. Bush |
| Antonia Coello Novello |
March 9, 1990–June 30, 1993 |
George H. W. Bush |
| Robert A. Whitney (acting) |
July 1, 1993–September 8, 1993 |
Bill Clinton |
| Joycelyn Elders |
September 8, 1993–December 31, 1994 |
Bill Clinton |
| Audrey F. Manley (acting) |
January 1, 1995–July 1, 1997 |
Bill Clinton |
| David Satcher |
February 13, 1998–August 5, 2002 |
Bill Clinton |
| Richard Carmona |
August 5, 2002– |
George W. Bush |
