Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect of American Imperialism, by Jack McCallu

McCallum, Jack

Norton, Richard J.

English

U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons

Naval War College ReviewVolume 60Number 2 Spring Article 102007Leonard Wood: Forgotten GreatnessRichard J. NortonJack McCallumFollow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-reviewThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion inNaval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contactrepository.inquiries@usnwc.edu.Recommended CitationNorton, Richard J. and McCallum, Jack (2007) "Leonard Wood: Forgotten Greatness," Naval War College Review: Vol. 60 : No. 2 ,Article 10.Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol60/iss2/10REVIEW ESSAYLEONARD WOOD: FORGOTTEN GREATNESSRichard J. NortonMcCallum, Jack. Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Archi-tect of American Imperialism. New York: New York Univ.Press, 2006. 357pp. $23.07Leonard Wood was one of the towering figures of U.S. political and military his-tory. He had a profound impact on the history of three countries, played an im-portant role in one of the most important medical advances of the twentiethcentury, and was very nearly president of the United States. He was, in every senseof the word, a man of destiny, a man of action, a man of his time. Yet like so manymen of their time, he is all but forgotten, at best remembered as an answer to aTrivial Pursuit question about the Rough Riders or as the name of an Army post inMissouri. There are probably several reasons for hispassage into obscurity. First, a similar fate befell manyof Wood’s Victorian-era contemporaries. Their militaryaccomplishments, which loomed large at the time, seeminsignificant beside the massive battles and technologi-cal fury of the two world wars. Their politics, especiallythose who favored the building of empires, appear to be-long to a different and less complicated age, and theirvirtues, formerly extolled in prose and poetry, graduallybecame identified as racist and chauvinist. The fact thatMcCallum’s book is only the third biography of Wood,and the first published since 1931, is indicative of howcompletely this remarkable man has been forgotten.Wood was indeed remarkable. McCallum takespains to prove this, as he traces Wood’s life and time.Richard J. Norton is a professor of national security af-fairs at the Naval War College, where he teaches courseson military history. He is also the director of the policymaking and process course in the National Security De-cision Making department. He holds a doctorate in in-ternational relations from the Fletcher School of Lawand Diplomacy. As a commander in the U.S. Navy, heserved at sea on cruisers and destroyers, and as a senateliaison officer he served on Capitol Hill with the Navy’sOffice of Legislative Affairs and in several political-military assignments on senior staffs. He retired fromthe Navy in 1996. He has published articles on failedstates, humanitarian early warning, Africa, SouthAmerica, and emerging security issues, as well as nu-merous case studies. His most recent area of research in-volves “feral cities,” cited by the New York Times as oneof the “new ideas of 2004.”Naval War College Review, Spring 2007, Vol. 60, No. 2C:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Spring 2007.vpMonday, May 14, 2007 3:57:48 PMColor profile: DisabledComposite  Default screen1Norton and McCallum: Leonard Wood: Forgotten GreatnessPublished by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2007Wood’s early years read like a Horatio Alger story. Born into a poor Massachu-setts family, Wood tried and failed to enter West Point, and then worked his waythrough Harvard Medical School. Successful completion of his studies resultedin an internship at Boston City Hospital, where the young Wood, presumably onhis way to a successful medical career, ran afoul of hospital authorities for per-forming operations without proper supervision. Hemorrhaging money andfaced with a massive fiscal crisis, Wood sought relief in the U.S. Army. Failing toobtain a commission, he was hired as a contract surgeon and sent west, wherethe Army was trying to find, fix, and capture the great Apache medicine man andspiritual leader Geronimo.The Apache campaigns were some of the most grueling the U.S. Army hadundertaken, and to the surprise of many Wood thrived in this environment, set-ting a rare example of endurance and stamina. As the ranks of the officersthinned, Wood occasionally found himself in command of line troops, where heexperienced his share of deprivation, disease, and hardship, and he was therewhen Geronimo surrendered. As a result of this campaign, Wood found himselfthe recipient of practical lessons in civilian-military relations, the patronage ofGen. Nelson Miles, and the Medal of Honor. A series of relatively quiet posts fol-lowed, until at the age of thirty-five, ignoring the advice of his seniors, he ac-tively sought a posting to Washington, D.C., where he made political enemies.When the Republicans came to power in 1897, however, Wood was in the rightspot at the right time, becoming the personal physician to Ada McKinley (the hy-pochondriac wife of the president) and a staunch friend of Theodore Roosevelt.One of the book’s shortcomings is that this real and deep friendship is not seri-ously explored.With access to the White House, social connections to Roosevelt, a thirst foradventure, and promotion, what Wood needed now was an opportunity toprove himself. That opportunity came in 1898, with the Spanish-American War.The story of the Spanish-American War is in many ways a tale of the suspen-sion of the laws of probability. There was perhaps a no more outrageous exam-ple than the success of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, the “Rough Riders.”Although Teddy Roosevelt was always the unit’s dominant personality, he re-fused command and made it clear he would not join unless Wood was placed incharge. So it was that Leonard Wood, army surgeon, became the commandingofficer of perhaps the most flamboyant and media-friendly military unit theUnited States ever created. He and Roosevelt pulled every string and called in ev-ery favor when outfitting and training their unit. The story and success of theRough Riders is well known, and much of that success is owed to Leonard Wood.Following the war, Wood commanded occupation forces in Santiago andmade the city a model of modern health and services. He allowed no obstacle to1 4 8 N A V A L W A R C O L L E G E R E V I E WC:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Spring 2007.vpMonday, May 14, 2007 3:57:48 PMColor profile: DisabledComposite  Default screen2Naval War College Review, Vol. 60 [2007], No. 2, Art. 10https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol60/iss2/10stand in his way in improving the city and its occupants. By all accounts Woodwas a model administrator, and he used this reputation to good advantage, con-sistently pressuring the White House to make him governor general of Cuba.While not without controversy, Wood’s tenure in Havana was successful.Among his more significant accomplishments were active support and advance-ment of the effort that led to the discovery of the origin of yellow fever, and al-though Walter Reed would rightfully reap the lion’s share of the credit, Wood’srole was not an insignificant one—implementing health and sanitation proto-cols that for the first time prevented yellow fever epidemics.In 1902, when the pacification of the Philippines was nearly complete, Woodwas selected to be its governor. By now a brigadier general in the regular Army,Wood was also due for promotion. The result was a political firestorm in Wash-ington that saw Theodore Roosevelt pitted against political strongman MarkHannah. The fight would last four months and demand all of Wood’s connectionsand Roosevelt’s pull and clout, but it would ultimately result in victory for Wood.The fight Wood faced in the Philippines would last six years. Unlike Cuba,where Wood did not condone or use violence, in the Philippines he waged warwith ferocity—indiscriminate killing, scorched-earth tactics, assassinations,and torture were common tactics on both sides. His methods were brutal and histools of choice almost exclusively military. To be sure, Wood was, by the measureof the day, effective. Revolts were put down, revenues were collected, and the is-lands were made quiet.By 1910, Wood was the senior general in the Army. As chief of staff, Wood de-voted himself to repairing a thoroughly antiquated, disorganized, and ineffec-tive force. He had seen modern European armies and was intent on creatingsomething similar in the United States when problems with Mexico diverted hisefforts. Wood moved forces to the southern border and fumed when the presi-dent refused to do more. The experience convinced Wood more than ever thatthe Army needed an overhaul. Possessing perhaps more vision than many of hiscounterparts, he was convinced of the power of aviation and from the beginningwas enthusiastic about advances in metallurgy. He sought higher pay and morerespect for private soldiers. Above all, Wood wanted a larger army, in fewerbases. His biggest defeat was his failure to create a large, well-trained reserve orappreciably expand the Army. His most powerful enemy was Woodrow Wilson.The president and the general clashed over U.S. preparedness for war, and ifhistory bore Wood out, he paid a heavy price for being right. In part this was dueto his penchant for name-calling and to his devotion to Theodore Roosevelt,who delighted in excoriating Wilson. That a serving general should not openlydisagree with a sitting president apparently never occurred to Wood. It alsonever occurred to him that when the United States did enter the war, WoodrowR E V I E W E S S A Y 1 4 9C:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Spring 2007.vpMonday, May 14, 2007 3:57:48 PMColor profile: DisabledComposite  Default screen3Norton and McCallum: Leonard Wood: Forgotten GreatnessPublished by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2007Wilson would find another general to command the American ExpeditionaryForce. Wood spent the war training troops in Kansas.With the war over and Roosevelt dead, Wood briefly became the politicalhope of the Republican Party. While still on active duty he hammered the Wilsonadministration, but as the 1920 Republican convention opened Wood lacked therequired votes for the party’s nomination. Warren G. Harding emerged thevictor.Wood returned to the Philippines as governor general. But he had become abitter man, afflicted by a brain tumor and acute bouts of memory loss. By 1927,his health rapidly deteriorating, Wood left for the United States, where he diedon the operating table.McCallum’s book does a fine job of laying out the life story of Leonard Wood.It is well organized, credibly documented, and, in the best sense of the term, aneasy read. Given that there is so little known about Wood, this book’s major con-tribution may simply be to acquaint American readers with this fascinating man.However, there is more to a man than simply his history. Readers hoping togain insight into Wood himself are likely to be disappointed. It may simply bethat Wood, the man of action, was not a man of introspection. For example, asMcCallum notes, on the day Roosevelt died, Wood penned only the briefest ofentries in his diary. In a similar vein, the book contains little contextual or com-parative analysis. Wood dealt with many of the issues that beset military leaderstoday, such as insurgencies, asymmetric opponents, military transformation,the need for interagency cooperation, and the nature of the civil-military rela-tionship in a changing world. Deeper investigation of these issues and a searchfor meaningful lessons, however, is left to future writers.McCallum suggests that part of the reason Wood has been forgotten is thathis strengths and weaknesses remind us too much of ourselves. Perhaps, but ifthis is so, then the life and fate of Wood are more deserving of study than ever.1 5 0 N A V A L W A R C O L L E G E R E V I E WC:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Spring 2007.vpMonday, May 14, 2007 3:57:48 PMColor profile: DisabledComposite  Default screen4Naval War College Review, Vol. 60 [2007], No. 2, Art. 10https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol60/iss2/10

Leonard Wood: Forgotten Greatness

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Leonard Wood: Forgotten Greatness

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