65 Facts About Leonard Wood

Leonard Wood was a United States Army major general, physician, and public official.

Leonard Wood served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Military Governor of Cuba, and Governor-General of the Philippines.

Leonard Wood began his military career as an army doctor on the frontier, where he received the Medal of Honor.

Leonard Wood received the Medal of Honor for his role in the Apache Wars and became the personal physician to the President of the United States.

Leonard Wood was promoted to the rank of brigadier general during the war and fought in the Battle of San Juan Hill and other engagements.

Leonard Wood retired from the army in 1921 and was appointed Governor-General of the Philippines later that year.

Leonard Wood held that position until his death in 1927.

Leonard Wood played a significant role in shaping many of the United States's major developments in the early twentieth century: progressivism, expansionism and colonialism, military reform, preparedness and American intervention in World War I, and the election of 1920.

Leonard Wood was particularly representative of an era that valued moral and physical strength.

Leonard Wood served as Governor General of the Mayflower Society from 1915 to 1921.

Leonard Wood was a member of the General Society of Colonial Wars and the Sons of the Revolution.

Leonard Wood was president of the Sons of the Revolution from 1910 to 1911.

Leonard Wood was raised in Pocasset, Massachusetts, and educated by a private tutor, then attended Pierce Academy in Middleborough, Massachusetts.

Leonard Wood tried unsuccessfully for an appointment to the United States Naval Academy and considered going to sea on an Arctic expedition or as a commercial fisherman.

Leonard Wood worked diligently and consistently improved his class standing to the point where he earned a scholarship that provided additional financial support for his studies.

Leonard Wood interned at Boston City Hospital, but was fired near the end of the year for exceeding his authority by conducting surgical procedures without supervision.

Leonard Wood then took over the struggling Boston office of a classmate who had been hired by the Southern Pacific Railway.

Leonard Wood practiced medicine in late 1884 and into the following year, but business was not steady and he did not have a reliable income.

Leonard Wood finished second of 59 applicants, but there was only one vacancy, so Wood was not immediately offered a commission.

In June 1885, Leonard Wood was contracted by the US Army to act as an assistant surgeon without rank, and he was posted to the Department of Arizona.

In January 1886, Leonard Wood was nominated by the president for appointment in the US Army as assistant surgeon with the rank of first lieutenant.

Leonard Wood's appointment was among several the United States Senate delayed confirming until July 27,1886.

Leonard Wood participated in the last campaign against Geronimo in the summer of 1886.

In 1898, Leonard Wood received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the 1886 Geronimo campaign, including carrying dispatches 100 miles through hostile territory, and commanding a detachment of the 8th Infantry Regiment whose officers had been killed in hand-to-hand combat against the Apaches.

Citation for Medal of Honor The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Assistant Surgeon Leonard Wood, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in the Summer of 1886, in action in the Apache Campaigns in Arizona Territory.

In late July 1886, Leonard Wood's appointment was confirmed and he received his commission as a first lieutenant.

In 1888, Leonard Wood was assigned to surgeon's duties at Fort McDowell, Arizona.

In 1889, Leonard Wood was reassigned to the Presidio of San Francisco.

Leonard Wood organized the school's 1893 team, served as coach, and played left guard.

Leonard Wood was personal physician to Presidents Grover Cleveland and William McKinley through 1898.

Leonard Wood successfully commanded the regiment during the June 24,1898 Battle of Las Guasimas.

Young, became ill, Leonard Wood received a field promotion to brigadier general of volunteers.

Leonard Wood assumed command of 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, Fifth Army Corps and led the brigade to a famous July 1,1898, victory in the combined assaults on Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill that came to be known as the Battle of San Juan Heights.

Leonard Wood stayed in Cuba afterward and was appointed military governor of Santiago later in 1898, then served as governor of Cuba from 1899 to 1902.

Leonard Wood introduced numerous reforms similar to those of the Progressive Movement in the US, including improvements to the educational and court systems.

On May 15,1902, prior to leaving office as military governor, Leonard Wood issued an order excluding Chinese immigrants.

Leonard Wood was promoted to major general in 1903 despite significant opposition from members of the United States Senate who believed he had not served long enough in the lower grades and had been promoted because of political influence, not merit.

Leonard Wood received criticism for his command of US Marines during the First Battle of Bud Dajo in March 1906, during which hundreds of women and children were killed.

Some of Leonard Wood's critics accused him of being a "glory hound" for ordering Marines to storm the dormant volcano crater where the battle took place instead of besieging the Moro encampment.

Leonard Wood returned to the United States in 1908 and was assigned to command the Department of the East, with headquarters in New York City.

Leonard Wood remained in this post until 1910, when he was appointed Army Chief of Staff.

Leonard Wood was named Army Chief of Staff in 1910 by President William Howard Taft, whom he had met while both were in the Philippines; he is the only medical officer to have held the position.

In 1914, Leonard Wood completed his term as chief of staff and was succeeded by William Wallace Wotherspoon.

Leonard Wood made speeches and wrote articles to advocate preparedness and in 1915 a collection of these works were published as a pro-preparedness book, The Military Obligation of Citizenship.

Leonard Wood served as a member of Harvard University's board of overseers from 1917 to 1923.

Leonard Wood was recommended by several prominent Republicans, including Henry Cabot Lodge.

Leonard Wood then commanded the 89th and 10th Divisions, which he organized and trained at Camp Funston, Kansas.

Leonard Wood was preparing to travel to France with the 89th Division in May 1918 when he was relieved by Wilson.

Leonard Wood was disappointed at being continued in stateside service, but effectively organized and trained the 10th Division.

Leonard Wood received the Army Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Honor from France to recognize his superior service during the war.

At the convention, Leonard Wood led on the first four ballots, was second on the fifth, tied for first with Lowden on the sixth, and led again on the seventh.

Leonard Wood retired from the US Army in 1921, after which he was chosen to serve as provost of the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1922, Leonard Wood decided to remain in the Philippines, so he resigned the provost's position.

Interior Secretary Jose P Laurel sought Conley's removal but Wood ordered Laurel to reinstate him.

The Filipino members of the Leonard Wood cabinet, including the entire Council of State, tendered their resignations to protest Leonard Wood's actions.

Leonard Wood reiterated his opposition to independence in 1925, arguing that while most government roles were filled by Filipinos, the US should keep the Philippines for its own strategic interests.

Leonard Wood was diagnosed in 1910 with a benign meningioma, which was successfully resected by Harvey Cushing.

Leonard Wood made a full recovery, but the tumor later recurred.

Leonard Wood died in Boston on August 7,1927, during surgery on the brain tumor.

Leonard Wood was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 21, Grave S-10.

Leonard Wood's brain is held at the Yale University School of Medicine as part of an historic collection of Harvey Cushing's patients' preserved brains.

Leonard Wood was serving in Monterey, California, in 1888 when he met Louise Adriana Condit Smith, who was vacationing with her uncle and legal guardian, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Johnson Field.

The Leonard Wood Memorial supported leper colonies in Culion and Cebu, held the first international conference on leprosy in Manila in 1931, and helped support the International Leprosy Foundation.

Leonard Wood received honorary degrees from many institutions of higher learning, including:.

Leonard Wood received the Theodore Roosevelt Association's Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal in 1923.