Susan Ann Edson (January 4, 1823 – November 13, 1897) was one of the first women to attend medical school, served as a Civil War Army Nurse, and was a friend and personal physician to President James A. Garfield and his wife Lucretia.

[6] She graduated from the Eclectic College of Cincinnati in 1853 and then proceeded to earn her additional degree from Cleveland on March 1, 1854.

[1] She served in Washington, D.C. and also at Fort Monroe,[2] a small Union outpost surrounded by Confederate territory.

[2] In Washington, she ran a large practice, and it was said that she made so many house visits that she "wore out more horses and carriages than any other doctor in town.

[7] Edson became a familiar presence in the White House, as she cared for the First Lady during a bout of malaria in May 1881.

[8] Within a three-month period of medical treatment to Garfield, Bliss reportedly did not take Edson's advice one time.

[8] Included in this advice was both Edson's and Boynton's opinions on the improper treatment of Garfield in regard to his preexisting conditions.

[8] The remaining physicians, including Boynton and Bliss, worked with Garfield until his eventual death in September, 1881.

[8] Following Garfields' death, the team of physicians, including Edson, Boynton, and Bliss, sent in a compensation demand to Congress for their medical services to the President.