Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect Of American Imperialism

"Splendid biography."
--"Dallas Morning News"

"In this day and age of warfare followed by nation-building, Wood's career may hold some lessons for today's generals."
--"St. Louis Post-Dispatch"

"This very servicable book deserves attention, especially by those contemplating the prospects of the current American empire."
--"London Review of Books"

"Wood receives his due in a fine biography. . . . All sides of the general are presented."
--"Washington Times"

" McCallum's] research at the Library of Congress included studying thousands of Wood's letters and diary entries, as well as court records. The information sheds new light on several controversial issues, including Wood's role in establishing the Georgia Tech football program and the true story of the Republican Convention of 1920."
--"Fort Worth Star-Telegram"

"We can be grateful for Jack McCallum's dutiful biography, which gives us a reliable...chronicle of Wood's meteoric ascent and a detailed record of his imperial achievements."
--"Wall Street Journal"

"Leonard Wood was one of the most fascinating figures during the age of the American empire at the turn of the 20th century. Physician, general, and colonial administrator, he was a man of great talents and striking flaws. Jack McCallum, himself a physician, has written a lively biography of Wood that shows how he moved from doctor to warrior, always trailing controversy behind him. At the end of this fascinating volume, readers will understand why Leonard Wood aroused such intense passions in Cuba, the Philippines and on the American political scene during the Progressive Era"
--Lewis L. Gould, Eugene C. Barker Centennial Professor Emeritus in American History, University of Texas at Austin

"With the skill of a surgeon, Jack McCallum has dissected the life of Leonard Wood-one of the most significant army officers and doctors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Leonard Wood reveals how this arrogant, intolerant, self-righteous, and autocratic army officer laid the foundations of American twentieth century nation building."
--Gene A. Smith, author of "Thomas ap Catesby Jones: Commodore of Manifest Destiny"

One of the most fascinating but least remembered figures in modern American history, Major General Leonard Wood (1860-1927) was, with his close friend Theodore Roosevelt, an icon of U.S. imperialism as the nation evolved into a global power at the dawn of the twentieth century. The myriad of roles that Wood played in his extraordinary career offer a mirror image of the country's expansion from the urban Northeast to the western frontier to Latin America and the Far East. Boston surgeon, Indian fighter, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, Medal of Honor winner, commander of the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War, Governor General of the Philippines, and presidential candidate, Wood was one of a select cadre of men that transformed the American military at the turn of the century, turning it into a modern fighting force and the nation into a world power.

Throughout his life, Wood tested the division between military and civilian power to its very limits. His 1920 presidential campaign and his conflicts with civilian politicians were harbingers of the struggles that Generals Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower would face as they moved from thebattlefield to Washington following World War II.

Jack McCallum has mined Wood's extensive personal records--including diaries, correspondence, and photographs--to create a vivid portrait of a complex man and the legacy he left on U.S. imperialism. America's rapid conquest of Cuba and the Philippines and the subsequent political and economic reconstruction it imposed under Wood's military supervision in these regions have important parallels to current U.S. involvement in the Middle East, both in its successes and its failures.