Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect of American Imperialism
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
"...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." Lewis L. Gould, Eugene C. Barker Centennial Professor Emeritus in American History, University of Texas at Austin
One of the most fascinating but least remembered figures in modern American history, Major General Leonard Wood (1860-1927) was, with his close friend Teddy 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. A 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 small, select cadre of men that transformed the American military at the turn of the century, molding it into a modern fighting force with significant political influence.
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 the battlefield 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.
Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect of American Imperialism,Jack McCallum,New York University Press,0814756999,Biography,Biography & Autobiography,Biography / Autobiography,Biography/Autobiography,Cuba,Generals,Historical - U.S.,Military,Military governors,Political,Spanish-American War, 1898,United States,United States - 20th Century,American history: from c 1900 -,Biography: historical,USA,c 1900 - c 1914
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