James Magee was born on January 23, 1883 in County Donegal, Ireland to Edward Carre Magee and Elizabeth Armstrong Magee. He was the fourth son of a Pennsylvania businessman who was working in Ireland. The Magees returned to Pennsylvania where James Magee spent his youth. He attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, and received his M.D. in 1905. After graduating he joined the Medical Department as a contract surgeon in 1907 and was commissioned in the Medical Reserve Corps in 1908. He graduated from the Army Medical school in 1909 and joined the medical corps as a first lieutenant. He was part of the American Expeditionary force and went to France from 1917-1919.
Magee, who was promoted to Major on May 15, 1917 and traveled to Base Hospital No. 12 in France. In August 1918, he was assigned as assistant to the chief surgeon Colonel Alexander Stark. While working with Stark, he participated in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives from September - November 1918. He was awarded the Purple Heart for meritorious services in these operations. During World war I, Magee achieved the rank of captain and chief surgeon.
Interwar period
He returned to the United States in June 1919 and commanded the base hospital at McGuire Air Force Base until he was transferred to Fort Sam Houston in December. While at Fort Sam Huston he worked as an instructor for the National Guard Medical Department. In June 1922, he went to Washington, D. C., for the Advanced Course in Preventive Medicine at the Army Medical School. Upon completion, he returned to Fort Sam Houston where he served as the division surgeon for the 2nd Division and commanding officer of the 2nd Medical Regiment.
On June 1, 1939 he was appointed by President Roosevelt to replace Major General Charles R. Reynolds as Surgeon General of the United States Army. The outbreak of World War II in Europe in September 1939 and the declaration of a limited national emergency by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that month confronted the new Surgeon General with enormous difficulties as the Army slowly began preparing for war. Magee had to confront the huge problems in preparing the Army Medical Department for its wartime expansion. General Magee's tenure was marked by both successes and criticism. Magee was not a favorite of Army Chief of Staff, General George Marshall and Lieutenant General Brehon B. Somervell, commander of the Services of Supply. This eventually resulted in a major investigation by the War Department's Wadhams Committee from August through November 1942. The committee's final report was issued in November 1942 and outlined recommendations to improve the efficiency of the Army Medical Services. Many of the recommendations were never implemented until early in 1943. Magee's adversaries may have encouraged the Wadhams Committee investigation of the Medical Department in an attempt to remove him from his position but failed. George Marshall was able to convince president Franklin D. Roosevelt to not reappoint him to the position after his four-year term as surgeon general was over. He retired from the position on May 31, 1943.
