On Dec. 18, 1977, Joseph Califano, President Carterﾒs Secretary of DHEW, asked Julius B. Richmond to return to Federal service as Assistant Secretary for Health (Jul. 1977). Richmond accepted, on condition that his position as Assistant Secretary, with its line authority over PHS, be combined with that of Surgeon General, widely recognized as a spokesperson for public health. Califano obliged with a December 1977 inhouse reorganization that boosted and streamlined PHSﾒs management capabilities through its Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.