Rear Admiral Presley Marion Rixey (14 July 1852,

Culpeper, Virginia Culpeper (formerly Culpeper Courthouse, earlier Fairfax) is an incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. The population was 20,062 at the 2020 census, up from 16,379 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Culpeper Coun ...

– 17 June 1928) was a

Surgeon General of the United States Navy The surgeon general of the Navy (SGN) is the most senior commissioned officer of the Medical Corps of the United States Navy and is the principal advisor to the United States Secretary of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations and director of the ...

(1902–10) and personal physician to Presidents

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

and

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

Biography

The older brother of

John Franklin Rixey John Franklin Rixey (August 1, 1854 – February 8, 1907) was a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic United States House of Representatives, U.S. Congressman from Virginia's Virginia's 8th congressional district, 8th congressional distric ...

, Rixey earned his medical degree at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

in 1873. On 25 April 1877, he married Earlena J. English, daughter of Rear Admiral Earl English,

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. He was commissioned Assistant Surgeon in the Navy on 28 January 1874. He served on the , , (1879–82), (1884–87), (1893–96), and , receiving promotion to Passed Assistant Surgeon on 18 April 1877, to Surgeon on 27 November 1888, and was commissioned as a Medical Inspector on 24 August 1900. He was assigned as the personal physician to First Lady

Ida McKinley Ida McKinley ( née Saxton; June 8, 1847 – May 26, 1907) was the first lady of the United States from 1897 until 1901, as the wife of President William McKinley. Born to a successful Ohio family, Ida met her future husband and later marr ...

in 1899 and spearheaded her improved health during the following few years. As he traveled with the McKinleys during this time providing personal care of Mrs. McKinley, he was present when President McKinley was shot in Buffalo. He attended President McKinley after he was shot in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, in 1901. Rixey was appointed

on 15 February 1902 and served as Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, with the rank of rear admiral, until his retirement on 4 February 1910. During his tenure as Surgeon General, Rixey strongly supported the foundation of a women's nursing corps for the Navy. In his 1902 annual report, he stated that, "There has been a growing conviction in the minds of many of the most experienced medical officers of the service, especially since the

war with Spain War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, that the employment of women for the nursing of the sick in our large hospitals would result in greater efficiency than has been obtained heretofore by the use of male nurses alone, and that such employment would not conflict with the conditions arising from the military character of the institution." With his help, the

Navy Nurse Corps The United States Navy Nurse Corps was officially established by United States Congress, Congress in 1908; however, unofficially, women had been working as nurses aboard Navy ships and in Navy hospitals for nearly 100 years. The Corps was all-fem ...

was finally established in 1908. He accompanied President

during his November 1906 visit to the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...

, and reviewed health and sanitation procedures there. From 16 January 1913 to 16 April 1917, Rixey served as a member of the Naval Examining Board, presiding over it during the last four months of that period. He died at his home in Rosslyn, Virginia., on 17 June 1928. He is interred in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Awards

Rixey received the Spanish Order of Naval Merit from King

Alphonso XIII of Spain Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alfo ...

for assistance he gave to the crew of the replica of the '' Santa Maria'' after that vessel suffered an explosion in New York Harbor on May 26, 1893, on its way to the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

.Who's Who in America
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Legacy

*Rixey's estate in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

, became the campus of

Marymount University Marymount University is a private Catholic university with its main campus in Arlington, Virginia. Marymount offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. It has approximately 3,897 students enrolled, representing approximately 45 states an ...

, and his home was renamed Main House. *The World War II casualty evacuation transport was named for him. *The Rixey station on the

Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad The Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad (GF&OD) was an interurban trolley line that ran in Northern Virginia during the early 20th century. History Chartered in 1900 by a group of local landowners and acquired in 1902 by John Roll McLean (o ...

was built for his estate.

References

External links

1905 Biographical Sketch

at Arlington National Cemetery

at Navy History

by Presley Marion Rixey, M.D. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rixey, Presley Marion 1852 births 1928 deaths United States Navy rear admirals (lower half) University of Virginia School of Medicine alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery People from Culpeper, Virginia American surgeons Surgeons General of the United States Navy

Biography

Awards

Legacy

References

Further reading

External links