How was USUHS founded?
Answer
Between World War II and the early 1970s, the number of physicians in the military had been dwindling and with the end of the draft in 1970, it was clear that the government would have to take action if a health care presence was to continue in the military. Congressman F. Edward Hébert championed the idea of establishing a military medical university by introducing a bill in 1961. The proposal had many detractors, including the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), who thought the project was not feasible. By 1971, though, Hébert was able to get enough support for the legislation that it passed in Congress and was sent to the White House. After decades of discussion and debate over the costs and the time it would take to establish a national university of the health sciences, Congress passed legislation to create the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and President Richard M. Nixon signed it into law on September 21, 1972. As Hebert called it, a "West Point for doctors" was born, ensuring that the branches of the military could rely on trained career physicians.
The USU Archives has an excellent subject guide about the history of USUHS as well as a number of USUHS-related historical materials in the USU Archives Digital Repository.