Leonard Wood Leonard Wood ( October 9 , 1860 – August 7 , 1927 ) was a physician who served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army , Military Governor of Cuba , and Governor General of the Philippines . Early in his military career , he received the Medal of Honor . Wood also holds officer service # 2 in the Regular Army ( John Pershing holds officer service # 1 ) . He was present at the 1906 First Battle of Bud Dajo . Biography . Early life and career . Born in Winchester , New Hampshire , he attended Pierce Academy in Middleborough , Massachusetts and Harvard Medical School , earning an M . D . degree in 1884 as an intern at Boston City Hospital . Leonard Wood was of English descent , and was descended from four Mayflower passengers including William White , Francis Cooke , Stephen Hopkins and Richard Warren ; all four of whom signed the Mayflower Compact . He was married to Louise A . Condit Smith , of Washington , on November 18 , 1890 . He took a position as an Army contract surgeon in 1885 , and was stationed at Fort Huachuca , Arizona . Wood participated in the last campaign against Geronimo in 1886 , and was awarded the Medal of Honor , in 1886 , for carrying dispatches 100 miles through hostile territory and for commanding an infantry detachment ( whose officers had been lost ) in hand - to - hand combat against the Apache . He received the rank of captain in 1891 . While stationed at Fort McPherson in Atlanta , in 1893 , Wood enrolled in graduate school at Georgia Tech , then known as the Georgia School of Technology , and became the school ' s second football coach and , as a player , its team captain . Wood led the team to its first ever football victory , 28 to 6 , over the University of Georgia . He was awarded an LL . D . by Harvard in 1899 . Spanish - American War . Wood was personal physician to Presidents Grover Cleveland and William McKinley through 1898 . It was during this period he developed a friendship with Theodore Roosevelt , then Assistant Secretary of the Navy . At the outbreak of the Spanish - American War , Wood , with Roosevelt , organized the 1st Volunteer Cavalry regiment , popularly known as the Rough Riders . Wood commanded the regiment in a successful engagement known as the Battle of Las Guasimas . When the brigade commander , Samuel B . M . Young , became ill , Wood received a field promotion to brigadier general of volunteers and assumed command of the 2nd Brigade , Cavalry Division , V Corps ( which included the Rough Riders ) and led the brigade to a famous victory at Kettle Hill and San Juan Heights . After San Juan , Wood led the 2nd Cavalry Brigade for the rest of the war ; he stayed in Cuba after the war and was appointed the Military Governor of Santiago in 1898 , and of Cuba from 1899 – 1902 . In that capacity , he relied on his medical experience to institute improvements to the medical and sanitary conditions in Cuba . He introduced numerous reforms similar to those of the Progressive Movement in the U . S . He was promoted to brigadier general of regulars shortly before moving to his next assignment . Philippine - American War . In 1902 , he proceeded 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 , a stronghold of Muslim rebellion , from 1903 to 1906 . He received criticism for his handling of the battle at First Battle of Bud Dajo . Army Chief of Staff . Wood had known Theodore Roosevelt well before the Spanish - American War . Wood was named Army Chief of Staff in 1910 by President Taft , whom he had met while both were in the Philippines ; he remains the only medical officer to have ever held that position . As Chief of Staff , Wood implemented several programs , among which were the forerunner of the Reserve Officer Training Corps ( ROTC ) program , and the Preparedness Movement , a campaign for universal military training and wartime conscription . The Preparedness Movement plan was scrapped in favor of the Selective Service System , shortly before World War I . He developed the Mobile Army , thus laying the groundwork for American success in World War I . World War I . In 1914 , Wood was replaced as Chief of Staff by William Wotherspoon . Wood was a strong advocate of the Preparedness Movement , led by Republicans , which alienated him from President Wilson . With the US entry into World War I , Wood was recommended by Republican s , in particular Henry Cabot Lodge , to be the U . S . field commander ; however , War Secretary Newton Baker instead appointed John J . Pershing , amid much controversy . During the war , Wood was , instead , put in charge of the training of the 10th and 89th Divisions , both at Camp Funston . In 1915 , he published " The Military Obligation of Citizenship " , and in 1916 . Wood was promoted to the permanent rank of Lieutenant General . The permanent rank of lieutenant general had last been awarded to Phillip Sheridan on 4 March 1869 . Republican politics . Wood was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in the election of 1920 . He was urged into running by the family and supporters of his old friend Theodore Roosevelt , who himself had been considering another campaign before his illness and death in 1919 . He won the New Hampshire primary that year but lost at the convention . Among the reasons that he did not become the candidate were several strong rivals for the nomination , his political inexperience , and the strong support he gave to the Red Scare , Attorney General A . Mitchell Palmer ' s campaign against Bolsheviks and anarchists . After the major candidates deadlocked , the nomination went to Warren G . Harding . Philippines . He retired from the Army in 1921 , and was made Governor General of the Philippines , in which capacity he served from 1921 to 1927 . Wood died in Boston , Massachusetts after undergoing surgery for a recurrent brain tumor . He had initially been diagnosed in 1910 with a benign meningioma brought on by exposure to experimental weapons refuse . This was resected by Harvey Cushing at that time , and Wood made a full recovery until the tumor later recurred . The successful removal of Wood ' s brain tumor represented an important milestone , indicating to the public the advances that had been made in the nascent field of neurosurgery , and extending Wood ' s life by almost two decades . He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery . His brain is held at the Yale University School of Medicine as part of an historic collection of Harvey Cushing ' s patients ' preserved brains . Legacy . Camp Leonard Wood in Missouri , now Fort Leonard Wood , home of the United States Army Combat Engineer School , Chemical School , and Military Police School , were named in his honor , as was the . Leonard Wood Road in Baguio City , Philippines was named in his honor . A Public Elementary School in Barangay Jagobiao , Mandaue City , Philippines ( inside Eversley Childs Sanitarium compound ) was also named after him . Ft . Leonard Wood is also a major TRADOC post for Basic Combat Training ( BCT ) , home of the 10th Infantry Regiment ( Basic Training ) . Wood Street corner Gov . Lim Avenue in Zamboanga City , Philippines was also named in his nobility . He is portrayed favorably in the 1997 miniseries " Rough Riders " by actor and former United States Marine Dale Dye . Leonard Wood was portrayed in a less favorable light by Mark Twain and others for his part in the First Battle of Bud Dajo in 1906 . A plaque in Wood ' s memory is found in Harvard University ' s Memorial Church . Leonard Wood Avenue ; located at Fort Meade , Maryland . On March 11 , 2012 , in an interview on the television program " Fox News Sunday " , presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said of his opponent Mitt Romney , " The fact is that Romney is probably the weakest Republican frontrunner since Leonard Wood in 1920 , and Wood ultimately lost on the 10th ballot . " Medal of Honor citation . Voluntarily carried dispatches through a region inhabited by 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 .