Leonard Wood (October 9, 1860 – August 7, 1927) was aUnited States Armymajor general,physician, andpublic official. He served as theChief of Staff of the United States Army,Military Governor ofCuba, andGovernor-General of the Philippines. He began his military career as an army doctor on the frontier, where he received theMedal of Honor. During theSpanish–American War, he commanded theRough Riders, withTheodore Roosevelt as his second-in-command. Wood was bypassed for a major command inWorld War I, but then became a prominentRepublican Party leader and a leading candidate for the1920 presidential nomination.
Born inWinchester, New Hampshire, Wood became an army surgeon after earning aDoctor of Medicine degree fromHarvard Medical School. He received the Medal of Honor for his role in theApache Wars and became the personal physician to thePresident of the United States. At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, Wood and Roosevelt organized the Rough Riders, a volunteer cavalry regiment. Wood was promoted to the rank of brigadier general during the war and fought in theBattle of San Juan Hill and other engagements. After the war, Wood served as the Military Governor of Cuba, where he instituted improvements to medical and sanitary conditions. PresidentWilliam Howard Taft made Wood the Army Chief of Staff in 1910, and Wood held that position until 1914. Several Republican leaders supported Wood for the role of commander of theAmerican Expeditionary Forces in World War I, but theWoodrow Wilson administration selectedJohn J. Pershing.
After Roosevelt's death in 1919, many of Roosevelt's former supporters backed Wood for the presidential nomination at the 1920 Republican National Convention. Wood received the most votes on the first four ballots of the convention, but the Republicans nominatedWarren G. Harding. Wood retired from the army in 1921 and was appointed Governor-General of the Philippines later that year. He held that position until his death in 1927.
Biographer Jack Lane sums up his importance:
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. He was particularly representative of an era that valued moral and physical strength. Although admired by his generation for his honesty, forthrightness, and his intense and vigorous approach to life, he fell short of greatness.[1]
Wood was born inWinchester, New Hampshire, on October 9, 1860, one of three children born to Dr. Charles Jewett Wood (1829–1880) and Caroline Elizabeth (Hagar) Wood (1836–1910).[2][3] His family was of English descent, and Wood was descended fromMayflower passengersWilliam White,Francis Cooke,Stephen Hopkins andRichard Warren.[4] He served as Governor General of theMayflower Society from 1915 to 1921.[4] Wood was also a member of theGeneral Society of Colonial Wars[5] and theSons of the Revolution.[6] He was president of the Sons of the Revolution from 1910 to 1911.[7]
Wood was raised inPocasset, Massachusetts, and educated by a private tutor, then attended Pierce Academy inMiddleborough, Massachusetts.[8] Wood tried unsuccessfully for an appointment to theUnited States Naval Academy and considered going to sea on an Arctic expedition or as a commercial fisherman.[9] In 1880, his sister Barbara died, followed soon after by the death of his father.[10] Wood's mother was able to support herself and Wood's brother Jacob by taking in boarders, while Wood moved away to further his education and obtain a profession.[8] With the assistance of a relative, Wood was introduced to wealthy businessmanH. H. Hunnewell, a philanthropist who had provided college tuition for other promising young men.[8] Hunnewell agreed to fund Wood's education atHarvard Medical School, and Wood began attending courses in October 1880.[11] According to Hunnewell, who considered his financial support to young men attending college loans and not grants, but did not attempt to obtain repayment, Wood was the only beneficiary who ever paid him back.[8][12] 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.[13]
In 1884, Wood received hisMD degree.[14] He interned atBoston City Hospital, but was fired near the end of the year for exceeding his authority by conducting surgical procedures without supervision.[15] He then took over the struggling Boston office of a classmate who had been hired by theSouthern Pacific Railway.[16] Wood practiced medicine in late 1884 and into the following year, but business was not steady and he did not have a reliable income.[16] In 1885, he completed the examinations for a commission in theArmy Medical Corps, attracted to the military by the possibilities for immediate employment and a regular salary.[16] He finished second of 59 applicants, but there was only one vacancy, so Wood was not immediately offered a commission.[16]
In June 1885, Wood was contracted by the U.S. Army to act as an assistant surgeon without rank, and he was posted to theDepartment of Arizona.[17] In January 1886, Wood was nominated by the president for appointment in the U.S. Army as assistant surgeon with the rank offirst lieutenant.[18] His appointment was among several theUnited States Senate delayed confirming until July 27, 1886.[19] Until that time, he continued as a contract surgeon and was stationed with the4th Cavalry atFort Huachuca, Arizona. Wood participated in thelast campaign againstGeronimo in the summer of 1886.[20]
In 1898, Wood received theMedal of Honor for his actions during the 1886 Geronimo campaign, including carrying dispatches 100 miles through hostile territory, and commanding a detachment of the8th Infantry Regiment whose officers had been killed in hand-to-hand combat against the Apaches.[21]Nelson A. Miles, the overall commander of the expedition, andHenry Ware Lawton, Wood's commander in the field, recommended Wood for abrevet promotion or a Medal of Honor, and lobbied persistently for 12 years until the medal was approved.[22][23]: 31–36
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. Assistant Surgeon Wood voluntarily carried dispatches through a region infested with hostile Indians, making a journey of 70 miles in one night and walking 30 miles the next day. Also for several weeks, while in close pursuit of Geronimo's band and constantly expecting an encounter, commanded a detachment of Infantry, which was then without an officer, and to the command of which he was assigned upon his own request.
Awarded for Actions During: Indian CampaignsService: ArmyUnit: 4th U.S. CavalryDate of Issue: April 8, 1898[24][a]
In late July 1886, Wood's appointment was confirmed and he received his commission as a first lieutenant.[19] In February 1887, he was appointed actingcaptain and temporary medical director of theDepartment of Arizona during the illness of his superior.[32][33] At the end of 1887, Wood's medical duties took him toFort Lowell,Arizona Territory, followed by duty atFort Selden,Fort Stanton, andFort Wingate,New Mexico.[34] In 1888, Wood was assigned to surgeon's duties atFort McDowell, Arizona.[35] In 1889, Wood was reassigned to thePresidio of San Francisco.[36]
Wood was promoted to captain in 1891.[23]: 29 In 1892, he was part of a contingent of Presidio soldiers that traveled toBenicia Barracks to assist units of the California National Guard during the conduct of their annual training encampment.[37]
While stationed atFort McPherson in Atlanta, Wood enrolled in graduate school atGeorgia Tech in order to be eligible for the school's football team.[38] He organized the school's1893 team, served as coach, and played left guard.[38] Wood led Georgia Tech to a 2–1–1 record, including a 28–6 victory over theUniversity of Georgia.[39]
Wood was personal physician to PresidentsGrover Cleveland andWilliam McKinley through 1898.[40] During his White House service, Wood developed a friendship withTheodore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy.[40] At the outbreak of theSpanish–American War, Wood and Roosevelt organized the 1st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, popularly known as theRough Riders.[40] Wood successfully commanded the regiment during the June 24, 1898Battle of Las Guasimas.[41] When the brigade commander,Samuel B. M. Young, became ill, Wood received a field promotion tobrigadier general of volunteers.[42] He assumed command of 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division,Fifth Army Corps (which included the Rough Riders) 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 theBattle of San Juan Heights.[42]
After San Juan Heights, Wood led the 2nd Cavalry Brigade for the rest of the war.[43] He stayed inCuba afterward and was appointed military governor ofSantiago later in 1898, then served as governor of Cuba from 1899 to 1902.[43] In that capacity, he relied on his medical experience to institute improvements to medical and sanitary conditions.[43] He also introduced numerous reforms similar to those of theProgressive Movement in the U.S., including improvements to the educational and court systems.[44] Though he did institute these improvements, Wood's motivations as military governor remain unclear. In a report to Washington in 1900, he outlined that Cuban stability would be reached when "money can be borrowed at a reasonable rate of interest and when capital is willing to invest in the island."[45] He was promoted tobrigadier general in the regular army shortly before moving to his next assignment.[23]: 29 On May 15, 1902, prior to leaving office as military governor, Wood issued an order excluding Chinese immigrants.[46]
Wood visited several European countries in 1902.[47] His tour included reviewingGerman troops duringKaiser Wilhelm II's annual parade in August, which he attended withSamuel B. M. Young andHenry C. Corbin,[47] and a tour of the United Kingdom'sMilitary College at Sandhurst in November.[48] In 1903, Wood proceeded to thePhilippines during thePhilippine–American War, where he served as governor ofMoro Province until 1906, then commanded thePhilippine Division from 1906 to 1908.[49] He was promoted tomajor general in 1903 despite significant opposition from members of theUnited States Senate who believed he had not served long enough in the lower grades and had been promoted because of political influence, not merit.[50]
Wood received criticism for his command of U.S. Marines during theFirst Battle of Bud Dajo in March 1906, during which hundreds of women and children were killed.[43][51] Though Wood did not directly command the assault, he took full responsibility for the resulting massacre, claiming that the high civilian casualties were the result of Moro men using women and children ashuman shields, as well as some Moro women dressing as men to join the fight.[52] At Wood's instigation, Governor-GeneralHenry Clay Ide reported that the women and children killed were the result ofcollateral damage from artillery fire, but that there had been no massacre.[53] Some of 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.[51][54][55]
Due to the backlash over Bud Dajo, Wood resigned as governor of Moro Province in April 1906 and was succeeded by brigadier generalTasker H. Bliss.[56] He returned to the United States in 1908 and was assigned to command the Department of the East, with headquarters in New York City.[57] He remained in this post until 1910, when he was appointed Army Chief of Staff.[58]
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Wood was namedArmy Chief of Staff in 1910 by PresidentWilliam Howard Taft, whom he had met while both were in the Philippines; he is the only medical officer to have held the position.[59] As Chief of Staff, Wood implemented several programs, among which were the forerunner of theReserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program, and thePreparedness Movement, a campaign for universal military training and wartime conscription.[60] The Preparedness Movement led to implementation of theSelective Service System shortly beforeWorld War I.[60] As chief of staff, Wood reorganized the general staff into three divisions – Mobile Army, Coast Artillery, and War College – each headed by an assistant chief of staff.[61] The three divisions he created did not last, but the overall result of his reorganization was the recognition that decentralization, which continued under his successors, enabled streamlined planning and decision making, which facilitated operations and training as the army began to prepare for U.S. entry into the war.[61]
In 1914, Wood completed his term as chief of staff and was succeeded byWilliam Wallace Wotherspoon.[62] As commander of the army'sEastern Department for the second time, Wood was a strong advocate of thePreparedness Movement, led by Republicans, which alienated him from PresidentWoodrow Wilson, aDemocrat who pursued an isolationist and pacifist foreign policy.[63] 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.[64] In 1916 he was elected as an honorary member of the Rhode IslandSociety of the Cincinnati.[65] He served as a member of Harvard University's board of overseers from 1917 to 1923.[14]
WithAmerican entry into World War I looming in early 1917, the most likely choice to lead American forces in France was Major GeneralFrederick Funston.[66] Funston died of a heart attack in February, leaving PresidentWoodrow Wilson to choose from among the army's six other major generals.[66] Wood was recommended by several prominent Republicans, includingHenry Cabot Lodge.[66] Despite this support, when the U.S. entered the war in April, Wood's prior criticism of the Wilson administration led Secretary of WarNewton D. Baker to recommendJohn J. Pershing, the most junior of the serving major generals and a Republican, but one who had been less vocal than Wood.[66]
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During the war Wood was relegated to stateside roles, including command of the Southern Department in 1917.[49] He then commanded the89th and10th Divisions, which he organized and trained atCamp Funston,Kansas.[31]: 371 While on an inspection tour of the Western Front in January 1918, Wood was slightly injured by shrapnel from a US mortar round that exploded during a test.[31]: 371 Wood was preparing to travel to France with the 89th Division in May 1918 when he was relieved by Wilson.[67] He was disappointed at being continued in stateside service, but effectively organized and trained the 10th Division.[67] During most of the war, Wood'saide-de-camp wasJohn C. H. Lee, who attained the rank oflieutenant general duringWorld War II.[59]
Wood received theArmy Distinguished Service Medal and theLegion of Honor (Grand Officer) from France to recognize his superior service during the war.[68] The citation for his Army DSM reads:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Major General Leonard Wood, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. As a Department, Division, and Camp Commander during the war, General Wood has displayed qualities of leadership and professional attainments of a high order in the administration and training of his various commands, and has furthered in every way during the war the system of officers' training schools.[69]
After the war, Wood was appointed to command theSixth Corps Area, which he led from 1919 to 1921.[49]
After having considered a presidential candidacy in 1916,in 1920 Wood wasa serious contender for the Republican nomination.[70] The major candidates were SenatorHiram Johnson of California, a progressive who opposed U.S. involvement in theLeague of Nations; GovernorFrank Orren Lowden of Illinois, who supported women's suffrage and Prohibition, and opposed U.S. entry into theLeague of Nations; and Wood, whose military career made him the personification of competence and ties to Theodore Roosevelt earned him the backing of many of Roosevelt's former supporters, includingWilliam Cooper Procter.[70] SenatorWarren G. Harding of Ohio was adark horse candidate, running as afavorite son in order to maintain his hold on Ohio's Republican Party and secure his reelection to the Senate.[70] At the convention, 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.[70] With none of the three front runners able to obtain a majority, support for Harding started to grow and he won the nomination on the tenth ballot.[70] Delegates nominatedCalvin Coolidge for vice president, and the Harding-Coolidge ticket went on to win the general election.[70]
Wood retired from the U.S. Army in 1921, after which he was chosen to serve as provost of theUniversity of Pennsylvania.[71] The college granted him a leave of absence before he assumed the position, enabling him to carry out a one-year appointment asGovernor General of the Philippines.[72] The Wood-Forbes mission appointed by Harding in 1921 to consider Filipino independence concluded that the Philippines was not ready for self-governance.[73] In 1922, Wood decided to remain in the Philippines, so he resigned the provost's position.[71]
Wood's Philippines tenure was characterized by tension between him and key Filipino officials.[74] In his first year, Wood vetoed 16 measures passed by thePhilippine Legislature, an act denounced by critics as a "misuse of the veto power" when they noted that his predecessor,Francis Burton Harrison, had vetoed only five measures during his entire seven and a half year governorship.[75] The conflict increased in 1923, precipitated by the case of Ray Conley, a Manila Police detective who was accused of immorality and official misconduct.[74] Interior SecretaryJose P. Laurel sought Conley's removal but Wood ordered Laurel to reinstate him.[74] Laurel then tendered his resignation.[76] The Filipino members of Wood's cabinet, including the entire Council of State, protested Wood's action by following Laurel's example.[74] These events, the "Cabinet Crisis of 1923", strained relations between Wood's government and Filipino leaders, which lasted until his death in 1927.[74]
The cabinet crisis was also exacerbated by disagreement between Wood and Filipino officials over Wood's economic reform agenda following the1921 Philippine financial crisis.[77] Wood reiterated his opposition to independence in 1925, arguing that while most government roles were filled by Filipinos, the U.S. should keep the Philippines for its own strategic interests.[78] As the conflict between Wood and Filipino officials continued, Wood used thePhilippine Constabulary to silence criticism of his administration, with critics accusing him of effectively turning the Philippines into a "surveillance state".[79] In another effort to control public perception of his governorship, Wood directedRafael Crame, an experienced intelligence officer who formerly served in the constabulary's Information Department, to organize a "subtle strategy" to demoralize the islands' burgeoning nationalist movement.[79]: 273 The Philippine Legislature tried to sabotage Wood's economic reform agenda by influencing the Board of Control, the entity that chose boards of directors for corporations in the Philippines. Wood responded by removing Senate PresidentManuel L. Quezon and House SpeakerManuel Roxas from the board, which resulted in Wood becoming the sole authority over all Philippine government-owned corporations.[79]: 288 Wood also wonPhilippine Supreme Court approval to appoint a new Board of Control. The nine-member court was structured to give American justices a one-vote majority, and the court decided in Wood's favor by one vote.[79]: 289
Wood was diagnosed in 1910 with a benignmeningioma, which was successfully resected byHarvey Cushing.[80] He made a full recovery, but the tumor later recurred.[80] Wood died in Boston on August 7, 1927, during surgery on the brain tumor.[31]: 371 He was buried atArlington National Cemetery, Section 21, Grave S-10.[81][82]
The successful removal of Wood's firstbrain tumor represented an important milestone, indicating to the public the advances that had been made in the nascent field ofneurosurgery and extending Wood's life by almost two decades.[83] His brain is held at the Yale University School of Medicine as part of an historic collection ofHarvey Cushing's patients' preserved brains.[80]
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Wood was serving inMonterey, California, in 1888 when he met Louise Adriana Condit Smith (1869–1943), who was vacationing with her uncle and legal guardian, Supreme Court JusticeStephen Johnson Field.[84] They married in Washington, DC on November 18, 1890, with the entire Supreme Court in attendance.[85][86]
The Woods had three children:[87]
In 1925, Dorothy Wade, wife of the head doctor at theCulion leper colony, and fundraiserPerry Burgess created a charitable committee that after Wood's death became the Leonard Wood Memorial for the Eradication of Leprosy.[92] The Wood Memorial supported leper colonies in Culion andCebu, held the first international conference on leprosy in Manila in 1931, and helped support the International Leprosy Foundation.[92] A statue of Wood was erected at Culion in 1931.[93]
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In January 1941, the newly constructedSeventh Corps Area Training Center in Missouri was designatedFort Leonard Wood.[94][95]
One of the U.S. Navy'sWorld War II-eraHarris-classattack transports,USS Leonard Wood (APA-12), was named for Wood.[96]
Lake Wood nearMount Imbing in theprovince ofZamboanga del Sur inMindanao is named for Wood.[97][98]
Numerous streets are named after Wood, including roads inBaguio andZamboanga City, Philippines.[71] An elementary school inMandaue, Philippines (inside the Eversley Childs Sanitarium compound) was also named after him.[99] There are streets named for Wood at current and former military posts, includingFort Meade, Maryland andSheridan Reserve Center (formerly Fort Sheridan), Illinois.[100][101]
Wood was aFreemason; Leonard Wood Lodge No. 105 under the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines was named in his honor.[102]
Wood receivedhonorary degrees from many institutions of higher learning, including:[14][106]
Wood received theTheodore Roosevelt Association's Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal in 1923.[106]
| Insignia | Rank | Date | Component |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Assistant surgeon | 5 January 1886 | Regular Army |
 | Surgeon | 5 January 1891 | Regular Army |
 | Colonel | 8 May 1898 | Volunteers |
 | Brigadier general | 8 July 1898 | Volunteers |
 | Major general | 7 December 1898 | Volunteers |
| Brigadier general | 13 April 1899 | Volunteers |
| Major general | 5 December 1899 | Volunteers |
| Brigadier general | 1 June 1901 | Regular Army |
| Major general | 8 August 1903 | Regular Army |
| Major general | 15 October 1921 | Retired list |
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia Tech(Independent)(1893) | |||||||||
| 1893 | Georgia Tech | 2–1–1 | |||||||
| Georgia Tech: | 2–1–1 | ||||||||
| Total: | 2–1–1 | ||||||||
Wood's neoliberal agenda in the Philippines was opposed by Filipino politicians in the executive and legislative departments from the start. This key policy disagreement climaxed in the resignation en masse of Governor Wood's Filipino cabinet and the members of the executive-legislative Council of State in 1923.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Governor-General of Cuba 1899–1902 | Succeeded byasPresident of Cuba |
| Preceded by | Governor-General of the Philippines 1921–1927 | Succeeded by |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chief of Staff of the United States Army 1910–1914 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Newly activated organization | Commanding General 89th Division 1917−1918 | Succeeded by |
Leaders of theUnited States Army | ||
|---|---|---|
| Senior officers / commanding generals |   | |
| Chiefs of staff | ||
| Vice chiefs of staff | ||
Americangovernors-general of thePhilippines | ||
|---|---|---|
1898–1935 | ||
| Military government (1898–1902) | .svg) | |
| Insular Government (1901–1935) | ||
| ||
| Officers |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Enlisted men | ||
| Engagements | ||
| Memorials | ||
| Film | ||
| See also | ||
