Joseph A. Califano

About the Author

Joseph A. Califano, Jr. held key positions in the Kennedy, Johnson, and Carter administrations as Defense Secretary Robert McNamara’s top troubleshooter, LBJ’s domestic affairs chief, and Carter’s secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. As HEW secretary in 1978 he started the first national anti-smoking campaign, calling cigarette smoking “slow motion suicide” and “Public Health Enemy Number One.” In 1992, he founded The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.