From a reader:
Reagan defenders have missed one unprecedented thing Reagan did in regards to AIDS. In June, 1988, according to a website on AIDS history (http://aidshistory.nih.gov/timeline/), “the brochure ‘Understanding AIDS,’ prepared by Surgeon General C. Everett Koop in collaboration with the CDC [Centers for Disease Control], was mailed to every household in the United States.”
No other disease, before or after, has gotten that level of attention.