Joseph A. Califano Jr.

Joseph Anthony Califano Jr. (born May 15, 1931) is an American attorney, professor, and public servant.

He is known for the roles he played in shaping welfare policies in the cabinets of Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter and for serving as United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the Carter administration.

He is also the founder and chairman of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASAColumbia), an evidence-based research organization, which is now the Partnership to End Addiction, where Califano holds the title of Chair Emeritus.

He has been an adjunct professor of public health at Columbia University Medical School and is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Califano was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 15, 1931, the son of Joseph Anthony Califano, and Katherine (Gill) Califano.

He attended St. Gregory's Elementary School and Brooklyn Preparatory School in Brooklyn, New York City.

Califano received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1952, and his LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1955.

In law school, he was a member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

In 1955, Califano enlisted in the United States Navy as an officer candidate.

He was commissioned an ensign in November 1955, served three years in the Office of the Judge Advocate General in Washington, D.C., and was released to inactive duty in October 1958, as a lieutenant.

He associated with the law firm of Dewey Ballantine in New York City from October 1958, until April 1961.

In April 1961, Califano became Special Assistant to the General Counsel of the U. S. Department of Defense.

In July 1962, he was appointed Special Assistant to the United States Secretary of the Army.

On July 1, 1963, he was appointed General Counsel of the Army.

He also served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army for Civil Functions, supervising the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Civil Works Program and was a member of the President's Appalachian Regional Commission.

In early 1964, Califano was selected to serve as the principal legal advisor to the United States Delegation to the Investigating Committee of the Organization of American States on the Panama riots of January 1964.

Subsequently, he was also selected to present the United States case before the International Commission of Jurists during hearings held in Panama dealing with those riots.

In recognition of his work as General Counsel of the Department of the Army, Califano was awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, the highest civilian award of the Army.

On April 1, 1964, Califano was appointed Special Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense.

He had special responsibilities for Department of Defense liaison with the Office of the President of the United States.

He also acted as Executive Secretary of the President's Advisory Committee on Supersonic Transport, as the Department of Defense representative on the President's Committee on the Economic Impact of Defense and Disarmament, and as a member of the Federal Radiation Council.

In recognition of his work as the Special Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, Califano was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal of the Department of Defense.

Between March 21 and 25, 1965, Califano was assigned to monitor the progress of the historic March from Selma to Montgomery which helped ensure the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Califano was appointed Special Assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 26, 1965.

In this position, Califano served as LBJ's chief domestic aide, developing the President's legislative program as well as helping coordinate economic policies and handling domestic crises.

He also worked on a variety of domestic problems, including labor-management relations, balance of payments, health care, education, environmental and urban issues, and civil rights.

He served in this position until January 20, 1969.

While in this post, The New York Times called him "The Deputy President for Domestic Affairs."

Califano was a member of the Washington law firm of Arnold & Porter from March 1969 until May 1971.

He was a member of the Washington law firm of Williams, Connolly & Califano from June 1971 until January 1977.

However, initially he refused to sign meaningful regulations for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which was the first U.S. federal civil rights protection for people with disabilities.

In January 1977, Califano became Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.

After an ultimatum and deadline, demonstrations took place in ten U.S. cities on April 5, 1977, including the 504 Sit-in at the regional HEW offices.

This sit-in, led by Judith Heumann and organized by Kitty Cone, lasted until April 30, 1977, 25 days, with more than 150 people refusing to leave.

It is the longest non-violent sit-in at a federal building to date.

Califano signed the revised regulations on April 28, 1977.

As Secretary, Califano also funded the nation's first free standing hospice in Branford, Connecticut, and issued regulations to make Medicare reimbursement available for hospice care.

He served in that Cabinet post until August 1979.

He put the department through the most complete reorganization in its twenty-five year history; created the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to run Medicare and Medicaid; mounted major health promotion and disease prevention programs, including childhood immunization, the first national anti-smoking campaign, an alcoholism initiative, and issuance of Healthy People, the initial Surgeon General's Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention which for the first time set health goals for the American people; began the collection of hundreds of millions of dollars of defaulted student loans, and instituted computerized techniques to police welfare, Medicare and Medicaid programs; worked with the Congress to maintain the financial integrity of the Social Security system, contain health care costs, and restructure Federal aid to elementary, secondary and higher education; and issued the first regulations to provide equal athletic opportunity to women under Title IX and to provide equal opportunity to the handicapped.

As Secretary, Califano opposed the Burger Court's Regents of the University of California v. Bakke decision limiting affirmative action and pressed the Carter administration to administer stronger desegregation policies.