After the war , Baxter remained in the Army as a member of the newly-organized Medical Department , and was appointed Assistant Medical Purveyor with the rank of lieutenant colonel . In 1872 , he was appointed Chief Medical Purveyor , and in 1874 he received promotion to colonel . In 1875 , Baxter graduated from Columbian University ( now George Washington University Law School ) with an LL.B . degree . Baxter 's duties as Chief Medical Purveyor included serving as personal physician to the President of the United States , and he attended James A. Garfield 's family . Baxter was out of town when Charles J. Guiteau shot Garfield in July 1881 , and was not able to examine Garfield following the shooting . Garfield 's other physicians prevented Baxter from seeing Garfield , which generated controversy both immediately after the shooting and after Garfield 's death several weeks later
shot Garfield
Assassination of James A. Garfield
Jedediah Hyde Baxter