$15, 1918 Presidential Letterhead Memo

Measuring 8 X 10 1/2 inches and suitable for framing, this one page Presidential Letterhead Memo grants honorable discharge to a First Lieutenant, Medical Corps member of the United States Army.

Excellent condition. Signed by the Adjutant General (J.C. Waterman) and the Assistant Secretary of War (Benedict Crowell).

The United States Assistant Secretary of War was the second-ranking official within the American Department of War from 1861 to 1867, from 1882 to 1883, and from 1890 to 1940. In 1940, the new position of United States Under Secretary of War replaced this position as the number-two office in the department.

There is a designated space for the President of the United States to sign this document, but Woodrow Wilson inexplicably did not sign it.

In 1923, Benedict Crowell was suddenly and unexpectedly indicted for conspiracy to defraud the Government on contracts for construction of war camps.