Profiles in History: W.W. Keen: The President’s Surgeon

Profiles in History: W.W. Keen: The President’s Surgeon

By the time 1893 rolled around, W.W. Keen (1837–1932) was arguably the most prominent doctor in the country. That year, more than any other, would require his best work, because the stakes could not have been higher: The fate of America’s leader and, possibly, the country’s entire economy rested on his shoulders. Keen graduated from Philadelphia’s Central High School and then attended Brown University. He graduated from Brown in 1859 as valedict…