geeky
Wood was born on October 9, 1869 in Winchester, New Hampshire. He attended Pierce Academy in Middleborough, Massachusetts and Harvard Medical School, where he received his M.D. in 1884. He served as an intern at Boston City Hospital before taking a position as an Army surgeon in January of 1886. Wood was stationed with the 4th Cavalry at Fort Huachuca, Arizona and he participated in the last campaign against the famous Apache chief Geronimo in 1886. During that campaign, Wood earned the Medal of Honor for carrying dispatches 100 miles through hostile territory and for commanding a detachment of the 8th Infantry in hand-to-hand combat against the Apache after the officers of that unit had been lost. He attained the rank of captain in 1891.
In 1893 Wood was stationed at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, where he attended graduate school at Georgia Tech, then known as the Georgia School of Technology. He organized the school's football team in 1893, serving as the team's coach, and also as the left guard on the offensive line. The team finished with a 2–1–1 record, including a 28–6 victory over the University of Georgia.
Wood served as the personal physician to Presidents Grover Cleveland and William McKinley and it was during the first McKinley administration that he he developed a friendship with Theodore Roosevelt, who was then Assistant Secretary of the Navy. When the Spanish–American War broke out, Wood and Roosevelt decided to organize the 1st Volunteer Cavalry regiment, which became known as the Rough Riders. Wood commanded the regiment, with the rank of Colonel. Following the Battle of Las Guasimas, the brigade commander, Samuel B. M. Young, became ill, and Wood received a field promotion to brigadier general of volunteers. He was given command of the 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, Fifth Army Corps, which included the Rough Riders. Wood led the brigade to a famous victory at Kettle Hill and San Juan Heights, where Roosevelt also made a name for himself.
After San Juan, Wood commanded the 2nd Cavalry Brigade for the rest of the war. He remained in Cuba after the war and was appointed the Military Governor of Santiago in 1898, and later, Military Governor of Cuba from 1899 to 1902. In that position, he instituted improvements to the medical and sanitary conditions in Cuba. Wood was promoted to brigadier general of regulars shortly before moving to his next assignment.
In 1902, he was sent to the Philippines, where he commanded the Philippines Division and later became commander of the Department of the East. He was promoted to major general in 1903 and served as governor of Moro province. Wood was criticism in the media by a number of journalists, including Mark Twain, for his handling of the battle at First Battle of Bud Dajo where hundreds of women and children were killed. Wood insisted that many of the women were dressed as male soldiers, and that children were used by the rebels as human shields, and that these casualties were suffered because of the savage tactics of his enemies, in spite of his best efforts to avoid them. Twain and other journalists did not see it that way.
Wood was named Army Chief of Staff in 1910 by President Taft, with the full support of his good friend Theodore Roosevelt. Wood also knew Taft, who he had met while both men were in the Philippines. Wood became the first, and thus far the only medical officer to ever hold that position. As Chief of Staff, Wood implemented several programs, including what became the forerunner of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. He also implemented the Preparedness Movement, a campaign for universal military training and wartime conscription. He also developed what became known as the Mobile Army, a strategy used subsequently by American forces, successfully, in World War I.
In 1914, Wood was replaced as Chief of Staff by William Wotherspoon. His ties to Republicans such as Roosevelt and Taft alienated him from President Wilson. When the U.S. entered into World War I in April 1917, Wood was recommended by Republicans, to be the U.S. field commander. But Wood was too closely identified with the Republican Party and Wilson appointed John J. Pershing, a less partisan choice, instead. During the war, Wood was assigned minor, non-combat roles, training the 10th and 89th Divisions at Camp Funston.
As the 1920 election approached, it was anticipated that Theodore Roosevelt would make another run for the Presidency, and many considered Roosevelt to the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party. But Roosevelt died in January of 1919, creating a vacancy for this role. Wood was urged into running by the family and supporters of Theodore Roosevelt. Wood won the New Hampshire primary that year, and at the start of the Republican convention in Chicago on June 8, Wood was considered the front runner. Illinois Governor Frank Lowden and California Senator Hiram Johnson were his strongest competition. Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding was also a candidate, but was not considered to be as strong of one as the other three men.
Wood led on the first four ballots, but his level of support hovered around the 30% range. Lowden passed him of the fifth ballot and the two men were virtually tied on the next two ballots. Though Lowden's support began to slip, Wood did not gain support. By the end of the first day of balloting, many predicted that a dark horse candidate would be chosen. Possible names included Pennsylvania Governor William Cameron Sproul, Pennsylvania Senator Philander C. Knox, Kansas Governor Henry Justin Allen, Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, or Charles Evan Hughes, who had been the party's nominee in 1916. Of these, Sproul had been gaining momentum at the expense of Lowden, who was the candidate of the conservative wing of the party.
Party leaders worked to find a candidate acceptable to both the progressive and conservative wings of the party. This division in the party had badly injured it in the 1912 election (when conservatives backed Taft and progressives backed Roosevelt, clearing the way for a Wilson victory). Party bosses were anxious not to repeat this mistake. Conservatives were strongly opposed to Wood, because of his ties to the progressive Roosevelt, while Lowden was opposed by the progressive wing of the party. When party bosses met in a "smoke-filled room", Harding emerged as a moderately conservative candidate acceptable to the progressive wing of the party and as a strong compromise candidate. After the eighth ballot, the convention recessed, During the recess, Harding's managers lobbied Lowden's supporters and others to support Harding. Harding was helped by the fact that the Democrats had nominated James M. Cox of Ohio, and Republicans did not want to give the Democrats a home state advantage in the important swing state of Ohio.
Harding took the lead on the ninth ballot, and clinched the nomination on the tenth ballot. Many Republicans rejected Wood not only for his progressive leanings, but also because of his political inexperience, and because of the strong support he gave to what was known as "the Red Scare," i.e. Democratic Party Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer's campaign against communists and anarchists.
Wood retired from the U.S. Army in 1921. Harding appointed him as Governor General of the Philippines later that year. In this office, Wood did not work well with Filipino officials. In his first year, Wood vetoed 16 measures passed by the Philippine Legislature, an act viewed by his critics as an unprecedented misuse of his veto power. Tensions heightened in 1923, following Wood's interference in the case of Ray Conley, a Manila Police detective who was accused of immorality and misconduct in office. Interior Secretary Jose P. Laurel tried to fire Conley, but Wood ordered Laurel to reinstate Conley to the police force. In protest, Laurel tendered his resignation. The Filipino members of the Wood's cabinet all tendered their resignations in protest of Wood's decision. Wood's actions strained relations between the U.S. colonial government and the Filipino leaders.
In 1927 Wood was treated for a recurring brain tumor in Boston. He died in hospital there on August 7 after undergoing surgery for the tumor. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His brain was removed and is held at the Yale University School of Medicine.