"C. Everett Koop, who raised the profile of the surgeon general by riveting America’s attention on the then-emerging disease known as AIDS and by railing against smoking, has died in New Hampshire at age 96," the Associated Press and CBS News report.

The story adds, "The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth said in a release that Koop died peacefully in his home in Hanover on Monday. They did not disclose a cause of death."

As explained in the story, "Koop wielded the previously low-profile post of surgeon general as a bully pulpit for seven years during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations."

The article adds the Koop "carried out a crusade to end smoking in the United States — his goal had been to do so by the year 2000. A former pipe smoker, he said cigarettes were as addictive as heroin and cocaine. Koop’s impact was great, although the surgeon general has no real authority to set government policy. He described himself as ‘the health conscience of the country.’ "

.Surgeon General C. Everett Koop