Isachar Zacharie (1825 – September 16, 1900) was a
British-American
British American usually refers to Americans whose ancestral origin originates wholly or partly in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Cornwall, Orkney, and the Isle of Man). It is primarily a demographic or histor ...
chiropodist (
podiatrist
A podiatrist ( ) is a medical professional devoted to the treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and related structures of the leg. The term originated in North America but has now become the accepted term in the English-speaking world for ...
),
plagiarist
Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...
, and close confidant and advisor to
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
. Born in England, he emigrated to the United States with his family and used falsified educational credentials and fake celebrity endorsements to establish a successful podiatry practice. Zacharie returned to Britain in the 1870s after failing in an attempt to fraudulently bill the U.S. government for podiatric services supposedly rendered by him during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
.
Early life and education
Isachar Zacharie was born into a Jewish family in
Kent, England
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...
in 1827. His father, Jan Zacharie, had immigrated to England from
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
. By age ten, Isachar was working as a physician's apprentice. In the mid-1840s he emigrated, with his parents and siblings, to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and soon thereafter began the practice of podiatry, albeit without any formal training.
Career
Podiatric practice
Falsely claiming to hold a medical degree from a school in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
and crediting himself with authorship of a podiatric manual he'd plagiarized, Zacharie became a well-known podiatrist and received as patients at least five members of the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
.
To help promote his practice, he took out advertisements in newspapers that cited made-up endorsements from noted physicians published without their knowledge.
Zacharie appropriated the idea of fake celebrity endorsements to drum-up business from John Eisenberg, another podiatrist of the period.
Shortly after the outbreak of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, Zacharie composed a letter to
United States Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's management helped organize ...
proposing the creation of a corps of podiatrists within the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
. Stanton rejected the idea but nevertheless became one of Zacharie's patients. Through Stanton, Zacharie was introduced to Abraham Lincoln, who also began to seek treatment from him for his various foot ailments.
Lincoln's confidant
The ''
New York World
The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under pub ...
'' wrote that Zacharie "enjoyed Mr. Lincoln’s confidence, perhaps more than any other private individual
nd wasperhaps the most favored family visitor to the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
". Notably, he was one of Abraham Lincoln's few retainers who was able to maintain a good relationship with the unpredictable First Lady
Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (December 13, 1818July 16, 1882) served as First Lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.
Mary Lincoln was a member of a large and wealthy, slave-owning ...
, who was sometimes referred to by White House staff as "Her Satanic Majesty" due to her erratic and mercurial personality.
Lincoln reportedly spent hours with Zacharie in private consultation on matters of state. His counsel was so important that, during the same week he issued the preliminary
Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln also took time to compose no fewer than three letters of recommendation for Zacharie's podiatric practice. Lincoln reputedly recommended Zacharie to the Union Army's "Commission of Chiropodist General of the United States," though such a department never materialised.
In 1863, Lincoln was approached by
Henry Wentworth Monk
Henry Wentworth Monk (April 6, 1827 – August 24, 1896) was a Canadian Christian Zionist, mystic, Messianist, and millenarian. Some have credited him with predicting the formation of the United Nations and both World Wars, although these cl ...
with a proposal for United States support in the creation of a
homeland for the Jewish people.
Lincoln signaled he was receptive to the idea since Isachar Zacharie was Jewish and had "so many times put me upon my feet".
According to historian Charles Segal, Lincoln's support for U.S. backing of a Jewish homeland as a means to recognize his podiatrist is one of only three opinions about Jews attributed to Lincoln.
During the
United States presidential election of 1864, Zacharie campaigned for Lincoln.
After the election, he used his White House influence to secure a presidential pardon for Goodman L. Mordecai, Confederate commercial agent in the Bahamas.
Presidential envoy
In 1862, Lincoln sent Zacharie to U.S.-occupied
to consult with General
Nathaniel P. Banks
Nathaniel Prentice (or Prentiss) Banks (January 30, 1816 – September 1, 1894) was an American politician from Massachusetts and a Union general during the Civil War. A millworker by background, Banks was prominent in local debating societies, ...
– recently installed as military governor of
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
– on the recruitment of Southern Jews to spy on the
Confederate States
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
.
The following year, Lincoln dispatched his podiatrist to
Richmond, Virginia to open peace talks with the Confederate government; Zacharie met with Confederate foreign minister
Judah P. Benjamin
Judah Philip Benjamin, QC (August 6, 1811 – May 6, 1884) was a United States senator from Louisiana, a Cabinet officer of the Confederate States and, after his escape to the United Kingdom at the end of the American Civil War, an English ba ...
. Zacharie's proposed peace offer reportedly involved the invasion and conquest of Mexico which would be made into an American puppet state with
Jefferson Davis as its ruler in exchange for Confederate capitulation. Nothing came of the discussions.
Billing fraud and return to Britain
Zacharie fell out of favor with America's political elite immediately after the death of his patron, Lincoln. In the early 1870s, he claimed to have served in the nonexistent position of "Chiropodist in Chief" to the Union Army during the Civil War and attempted to bill the U.S. Government an amount equal, in 2020, to one million dollars for services rendered. His claim was rejected and Zacharie was widely mocked in newspapers throughout the country for having tried to collect payment. He returned to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
where he continued the practice of podiatry.
Personal life
Zacharie married
outside Judaism and raised his daughters as Christians.
After returning to the United Kingdom, Zacharie established an English lodge of the
Order of the Secret Monitor
The Order of the Secret Monitor (OSM) is an appendant order of Freemasonry.
History
The first known references to the Order of the Secret Monitor are known to be Dutch in origin, being first mentioned in 1778 as the Order of Jonathan and David i ...
, a U.S.-founded appendant order of
Freemasonry
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
, and was elevated to its Grand Supreme Ruler.
Widely considered a political opportunist, Zacharie was known to be vain, ambitious, and a sycophant.
George Dennison, a
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...
official and cousin of
Chief Justice of the United States Salmon P. Chase
Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...
, derisively described him: "His vest is flowered velvet – his hair beautifully oiled ... in season and out of season, he fails not to announce himself as Confidential Agent or Correspondent to the President".
He died in 1900 and was buried with Masonic rites at
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
's
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...
.
See also
*
Robert King Stone
Robert King Stone (December 11, 1822 – April 23, 1872) was an American physician and professor at Columbian College Medical School (predecessor to today's George Washington University School of Medicine). He was considered "the dean of the Wash ...
– Lincoln's physician
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zacharie, Isachar
1900 deaths
1827 births
American podiatrists
People from Kent (before 1889)
English Jews
British Freemasons
British podiatrists
19th-century American Jews
19th-century British Jews
English emigrants to the United States
British people of Prussian descent
American people of Prussian descent