Rush: Revolution, Madness, and the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father

by Stephen Fried

The remarkable story of Benjamin Rush, medical pioneer and one of our nation's most provocative and unsung Founding Fathers

In the summer of 1776, fifty-six men put their quills to a dangerous document they called the Declaration of Independence. Among them was a thirty-year-old doctor named Benjamin Rush. One of the youngest signatories, he was also, among stiff competition, one of the most visionary.

A brilliant physician and writer, Rush was known as the "American Hippocrates" for pioneering national healthcare and revolutionizing treatment of mental illness and addiction. Yet medicine is only part of his legacy. Dr. Rush was both a progressive thorn in the side of the American political establishment--a vocal opponent of slavery, capital punishment, and prejudice by race, religion or gender--and close friends with its most prominent leaders. He was the prot�g� of Franklin, the editor of Common Sense, Washington's surgeon general, and the broker of peace between Adams and Jefferson, yet his stubborn convictions more than once threatened his career and his place in the narrative of America's founding.

Drawing on a trove of previously unpublished letters and images, the voluminous correspondence between Rush and his better-known counterparts, and his candid and incisive personal writings, New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist Stephen Fried resurrects the most significant Founding Father we've never heard of and finally installs Dr. Rush in the pantheon of great American leaders.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, American History, American Revolution, Biography Memoir, Audiobook

608 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2018

About the author

Stephen Fried is an award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author who teaches at Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.

His latest books are RUSH: Revolution, Madness and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father (Crown) and Profiles in Mental Health Courage (Dutton) by Patrick Kennedy & Stephen Fried.

He has written six other acclaimed nonfiction books, including the biographies Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West—One Meal at a Time and Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia; and the mental health memoir A Common Struggle, co-authored with Congressman Patrick Kennedy. Fried also wrote the investigative books Bitter Pills: Inside the Hazardous World of Legal Drugs and The New Rabbi, as well as a collection of essays on marriage, Husbandry.

A two-time winner of the National Magazine Award, he has written frequently for Vanity Fair, GQ, The Washington Post Magazine, Smithsonian, Rolling Stone, Glamour, and Philadelphia Magazine.

Fried lectures widely on the subjects of his books and magazine articles, and does editorial consulting. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, author Diane Ayres.

FB author page: https://www.facebook.com/Stephen-Frie...

Reviews

[Alan Tomkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monumental, absolutely superb. There has been limited Benjamin Rush scholarship, so the author had a daunting task in researching, organizing, and presenting the fascinating history involved in this thoroughly readable, exquisitely written, and highly entertaining biography of Dr. Benjamin Rush. I applaud the author's skill and dedication. Benjamin Rush lived a remarkable life as a founding father and eminent physician. He revolutionized medical practices of the time and pioneered new concepts of education, physician training, public health, and especially the treatment of alcoholism and mental illness. An honest, moral, compassionate, dedicated public servant and family man, he was close friends with Jefferson, Adams, and other founding fathers. If you enjoy early American history, you will savor this book as a real treat. Highest recommendation.

[happy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Fried has delivered a fascinating, well researched, enjoyable and very readable look at one of the lesser known, but at the same time more important of our founding fathers and signers of the Declaration of Independence. As the author looks at Dr. Rush’s life, he is helped by a treasure trove of his letters that have survive – literally thousands of them. They range from love letters exchanged between his wife and himself to his letters attempting to engineer a reconciliation between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson after they had both left office (more on that later).

Dr. Rush was truly a multitalented man. By profession, he was one of the leading medical doctors in the colonies. However that was not his only interest or claim to fame, he was heavily involved with the independence movement and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was an educator - instrumental in the founding of 3 different colleges and a proponent of the education of woman. He was into publishing and was instrumental in the writing and publishing of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense". He was also a early abolishionist, when slavery was generally accepted in all of Britain's colonies. In his personal life, he was a devoted an seemingly adoring husband and a devote conventional Christian.

While he was one of the founding fathers, Benjamin Rush was not a politician. He made his living as a Medical Doctor. The author looks at his education, from his apprenticeship to his going to England to study with the leading Medical Professionals of the Great Britain to his following that up with time in France. As a medical professional of the 18th century, he did follow many of the standard procedures of the day, including bleeding, cupping, purging. At the same time his was forward thinking. He recognized the need for sanitation. As one of the leading Medical Officers in the Revolutionary Army, he was insistent on the troops maintain proper sanitation, including building latrines away for their sleeping huts, getting drinking water up stream for the latrines, etc.

His other medical claim to fame is in his treatment of the clinically insane. He advocated for humane treatment of those deemed insane and locked up in asylums (at least in the Americas, they were often chained in cells in the basement of a regular hospital. This interest becomes even more poignant when his eldest son becomes more and more erratic in his behavior (eventually being dismissed from the Navy because of it) His advocacy of getting the mental health patients out of their cells into a more humane environment was revolutionary (pun intended) for it time.

In addition to his medical practice, he was heavily involved with Revolutionary politics. While not a member of the Pennsylvania delegation to the First Continental Congress, was part to the greeting party when the Massachuttes delegation arrived in Philadelphia and was one of those advising John and Samuel Adams to keep quite on the topic of Independence and to let the Virginia Delegation take the lead. He was also instrumental in getting Tom Paine to write "Common Sense" and in getting it published.

He was appointed to the Pennsylvania Delegation to the Second Continental Congress shortly before the votes for Independence and was one of the signers. Shortly after that he lost his bid to be elected to congress. He then was appointed one the Medical leaders of the Continental Army. He was at the crossing of the Delaware, with Washington and was his physical bravery was never in doubt.

However his military medical career was basically ended when at the height of the movement to replace Washington with Gates, he opined in a letter to Patrick Henry – then Gov of Virginia, his doubts about Washington’s fitness to command. While in the letter he begged Henry not to show it to anyone else, Washington got a copy of it. In spite of Rush’s many attempts to apologize, both publicly and privately, Washington never forgave him.

Another part of his story his belief in the moral failing of slavery and in its abolition as soon as possible. He was writing tracts supporting abolition before it was still popular even in the Northern Colonies, let alone illegal. In spite of his advocacy of abolition, he purchased a slave, William Grubber. The author states that he could not find a reason in any of his writing. He actually purchased the slave several years after his first writing on the subject. He eventually freed him and the author makes the guess that he was purchased in order to free him, after he worked off the purchase price. The gentleman was often hired out to ship captains and was not one of his regular house servants.

In addition to being an early abolitionist, he was also one of those who believed in the equality of the races. When his church started segregating black parishioners, he was instrumental in raising funds and acquiring the building sites for the first two black churches in Philadelphia. He even attended the first services held in the churches.

During Adam’s presidency, Adams and Jefferson fell out do to their differences of opinion on the nature of Government. After Jefferson left office, Dr. Rush felt that it was a shame that the two men would not speak to each other or even exchange letters. He started a subtle campaign to get the two men corresponding and was eventually successful. In fact as Jefferson was dying, one of his last statements was “At least Adams lives” Unfortunately, Adams had passed away about 4 hours earlier.

In summary I found this to be an insightful look at the founding of the United States and the attitudes of the men who made it possible. Dr Rush was a true Renaissance man. This was an extremely well researched and an engrossing read. I found it to be as 4.5 star read, so I’ve rounded up for Goodreads.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just reading the Preface in Stephen Fried's new biography Rush: Revolution, Madness and the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father I was shocked by the breadth and depth of Rush's accomplishments. It is hard to believe how ignorant we are about Rush's lasting contributions. I had come across Benjamin Rush in my readings on the Revolution and Founding Fathers and was interested in learning more about the man. Fried's book has made me a lasting and enthusiastic fan of this Philadelphia physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Rush knew all the big names of his time period. His friends included Benjamin Franklin, John Addams, and Thomas Jefferson. He encouraged Thomas Paine to write Common Sense. Adams wrote that Rush had contributed more to the Revolution than Franklin! It was Rush who pressured Adams and Jefferson to reconnect after years of alienation.

As a physician, he championed humane treatment for the mentally ill and identified addiction as a medical, not a moral, condition. During the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 when 10% of the population died, Rush courageously stayed in Philadelphia. Many doctors fled the city along with anyone else who had somewhere else to go. The African American community came out to assist; it was thought they were immune to the disease!

Rush saw war and the disease and injuries that took lives. He triaged troops and was with Washington when he crossed the Delaware and at battlefields including Brandywine, Trenton, and Princeton. He knew that more soldiers died from sickness than the sword and created standards of hygiene for the military, including the first military buzz-cut.

Rush was a practicing physician. He lived in before we understood viruses and bacteria and bleeding and purgatives were employed. He was called to educate and outfit Lewis and Clark for their expedition. His purgative known as Rush's Pills included mercury, which has helped us track Lewis and Clark's journey! Rush thought up the circular surgical theater.

He was a life long educator, medical writer and lecturer. He founded Dickinson College to bring higher education to rural Pennsylvania and campaigned for free public education.

An ardent abolitionist, Rush supported the founding of the first African Methodist Church. He was a dedicated Christian who supported the separation of church and state while maintaining the importance of faith as a moral guide.

Rush knew that when the war was over, the real work of founding a nation would begin which needed to balance "science, religion, liberty and good government."

Rush married the daughter of another Declaration signer, Julia Stockton. They had thirteen children. Rush was a devoted and loving husband and father, but his illustrious fame and high standards were hard to live up to. His son became an alcoholic who ended up hospitalized, a 'madman' who was studied by the actor Edwin Forrest while preparing for his breakout role as King Lear. Another son, Richard, was close to John Quincy Adams and became his vice presidential candidate and he was commissioned to collect the James Smithson trust money which funded the Smithsonian.

Fried's chapter on what happened to Rush's papers and letters explains why he disappeared from memory until mid-2oth c. Julia Rush's most treasured and private letters by her husband were in the family until 1975 when they were donated to the Rosenbach Library in Philadelphia.

The story of Rush's life was exciting to read. As a popular history, I found it very accessible and quick reading. A Goodreads friend told me that Rush was her favorite Founding Father. It appears he was John Adams' favorite as well, judging by his response to Rush's death as recorded by Abigal, which Fried includes in the book:

"O my friend, my friend, my ancient, my constant, my unshaken friend! My brother, art thou gone? Gone forever Who can estimate thy worth, who can appreciate thy loss? To thy country, to thy family, to thy friends, to science, to literature, to the world at large? To a character which in every relation of life shone resplendent?" John Adams upon the death of Rush as reported by Abigal Adams

"...a better man than Rush, could not have left us, more benevolent, more learned, of finer genius, or more honest." Thomas Jefferson in a letter to John Adams

"I know of no Character living or dead who has done more real good in America." John Adams response to Thomas Jefferson's letter

I received a free ebook through First to Read in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to begin? Benjamin Rush is an unsung hero of the Revolution. He isn't larger than life like Washington, but he was there when he crossed the Delaware and tirelessly worked to improve the health of the troops. He isn't a flamboyant personality like Franklin, but John Adam's thought Rush's contribution to science and medicine was more meaningful. He wasn't president like his two friends Adams and Jefferson, but he advised them both and raised a son who became the youngest presidential cabinet member in history (nope, not Alexander Hamilton, but Richard Rush). He signed the Declaration of Independence, but never looked for political fame. He was the most famous physician in the country, but he chose to remain in Philadelphia during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic while others fled. He was an abolitionist in a time of slavery. A doctor to the insane when others felt there was no cure for insanity. He didn't write Common Sense, but he did encourage and advise Thomas Paine as he did.

"His brain was constantly racing; he was certain he knew how to fix everything but felt he had the power to fix nothing."

Some of this I knew about Benjamin Rush, but I had never before realized the extent of his accomplishments and how significantly his passion for equality and justice impacted our country at this pivotal time. He may have worked more quietly than some of the 'bigger names' of the era, but Rush was no less vital a block in America's foundation. Rush advised those big names and counted them among his closest friends. This is what makes this biography so impressive and so important to read. It provides an intimate, personal view of the Revolution and its aftermath - when the real work began.

Benjamin Rush was not afraid to speak his mind or "offer an inconvenient truth, without warning, in the middle of a conversation." However, he also believed friendship trumped political views and worked tirelessly to see reconciliation between former presidents Adams and Jefferson before he died.

Rush also was a strong supporter of the abolition of slavery. More than that, he helped freemen in Philadelphia establish African American churches and supported them as equals, even trying at one point to scientifically prove that black people were not inferior.

He could talk about differences in religion and did, especially with Thomas Jefferson, who had very unusual ideas about the Biblical Jesus. Rush thought these discussions were vital to personal development and critical thinking - something that has gone sadly out of vogue today. He believed religion was vital to teach in schools because without it "there can be no virtue," but he also did not think the state should enforce a single denomination of Christianity.

Possibly most shockingly, Rush believed in gun control. While we are led to believe that the Founding Fathers intended the 2nd amendment allow any citizen to own any form of weaponry, Rush didn't see it that way at all. He even felt that military parades should be discouraged because they "lessen the horrors of a battle by connecting them with the charms of order." He even offered sarcastic titles for the US Department of War such as "An office for butchering the human species" and "A Widow and Orphan making office."

Nothing speaks stronger words about Benjamin Rush than the words of those who knew him. When Rush died, Thomas Jefferson said, "A better man than Rush could not have left us, more benevolent, more learned, of finer genius, or more honest." John Adams responded, "He has suffered more and gained less in fame, fortune and feelings by the Revolution than almost any other man." In comparing Rush to Benjamin Franklin, Adams said, "Dr Rush was a greater and better man that Dr Franklin. Yet Rush was always persecuted and Franklin always adored. Why is not Dr Rush placed before Dr Franklin in the Temple of Fame? Because cunning is a more powerful divinity than simplicity. Rush has done infinitely more good to America than Franklin."

I encourage anyone interested in US History (in my opinion that should be anyone living in the US) to read this biography. I thank NetGalley for my copy. Opinions expressed are my own.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is a founding father I hadn’t planned on exploring, but a two-coin price tag at a garage sale convinced me to give it a go. And wouldn’t Benjamin Rush be thrilled to hear that!?

I was intrigued by Rush when I first read he had signed the Declaration of Independence, and then went on to face the nightmarish Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia at the time that it was our nation’s capital. Yet I had been unfairly blaming him for killing George Washington: POTUS #1 was famously killed by his doctors—partly by over-bleeding him and draining him of other fluids—but thanks to a falling-out during the Revolutionary War, Rush was not one of them.

Enveloped in controversy much of his life, Rush’s story is remarkable for his positive contributions in multiple aspects of the new country’s existence. Among his most significant was his lifelong dedication to the mentally ill. He improved their living conditions in Philadelphia, and tried the until-then unheard-of treatment of talking to them.

Rush faced rivals both professional and political; he worked for years to open a medical school and a hospital specifically for the mentally sick. He faced challenges as a father with his two oldest sons. He sustained an enormous family and lasting friendships.

Additional contributions to history include his persuasion of Thomas Paine to write what would come to be known as Common Sense, and his suggestion to Thomas Jefferson and John Adams that they reunite by written word, leading to the most remarkable exchange of letters between two former presidents.

While Adams may have overinflated Rush’s significance, claiming he stood larger even than Benjamin Franklin, author Stephen Fried shows that Dr. Rush is a founder not to be forgotten.

[Jim Razinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit that like I suppose many, I knew little of Benjamin Rush. Now, thanks to First to Read and the publisher, I know more through an Uncorrected Proof ebook of this book. Stephen Fried has compiled a lengthy, and informative, story of Rush's life. It's an easy read, if, as I noted, lengthy, and it flows well. Fried even offers a couple of cliffhanger teasers (more on that...)

It must have taken an extraordinary amount of time, reading and distillation to go through the seemingly mountainous volume of letters and writings of Rush.

I got a kick out of a side note of when Franklin sent with Rush - following Rush's schooling in Edinburgh and OJT in London - letters of introduction when he traveled to France, and Rush's first contact was a Dr. Jacques Dubourg, who had translated Franklin's scientific writings into French. Dubourg, Fried says, apparently "dabbled in invention himself and would go on to create the first - and probably only - parasol equipped with a lightning rod." And another kick came at the end of the book in the Afterword: Fried mentioned a 1945 biographer's 35 page book of an analysis of Rush letters that was "not much longer than it's [67 word] title."

A prolific writer, Rush churned out pamphlets, books, sermons, speeches and Fried must have gone through a great many of them. Another chuckle, Fried references Rush's Sermons to Gentlemen Upon Temperance and Exercise as something that might just be the first American self-help book. Rush had issue with young adults drinking wine and spirits (except as medicinally prescribed) but he thought that "three or four glasses in a sitting, could contribute to good health." I'll risk a lengthy quote though my copy was an uncorrected proof:

Wine is principally useful to old people, or such as are in the decline of life. It is hard to fix the limits between the beginning of old age, and the close of manhood. At a medium, the body begins to decline at the age of forty-five or fifty in this climate. Then the hot fit fever of life begins to abate, and from the many disappointments in love - friendship - ambition or trade, which most of men meet with by the time they arrive at this age, they generally feel a heavy heart. The decay of the vital heat - the slowness of the pulse - the diminution of the strength, all show that the vigour of the system is declining. Here wine prolongs the strength and powers of nature. It is the grave of past misfortunes - In a word, it is another name for philosophy.
Remember, my aged hearers, if you would expect to enjoy a long reprieve from the infirmities of age, you must begin to use wine moderately, and increase the quantity of it as you descend into the valley of life.

There you have it! drink wine as you get older!

Chapter 10 ends with the first cliffhanger (that I took notice of): "Some years later, Washington and Rush would look back on that twenty-four hour period in late October 1774 and wonder how they could have been both so right and so wrong about each other." I'll leave the follow on to the reader to learn the answer.

I've read a few books that cast aside any notions romanticizing the civility of both sides during the Revolutionary War, but one reference Fried made stuck out, about a brutal British attack that "according to many reports, violated all norms of combat."

Rush could be quite visionary. He had 18th century medical limitations, but his direct experience with mental illness and attempts to treat it over much of his career offered reflections on causation that were eye opening for me...I was not aware how early actual treatment attempts happened. That diseases of the mind weren't failures of will was rather progressive. Of course, those limitations required treatments of the day like bloodletting, so there's that.

His views on education pushed creation of free public schools that taught not just young men, but young women. Visionary and revolutionary. His views on corporal punishment were equally progressive ("....corporal Corrections for children above three or four years old are highly improper.")

As progressive as he could be, he was still hamstrung by his religion, thinking that "Christianity exerts the most friendly influence upon science, as well as upon the morals and manners of mankind.", never realizing the flaws in that. He progressively thought that all history "is a romance, and romance is the only true history", but was hoist yet again with his limitations when he excepted that which was contained in the Bible. He endured his own Breitbart of the day when a man named William Cobbett published all sorts of libel under the name of Peter Porcupine (Rush won in court.)

The depth of investigation for this book is impressive. Fried and his researchers found Navy records of Rush's son John that Rush did not seem to know about. And they gleaned a lot more sources - the correspondence between John Adams and Rush alone was hundreds upon hundreds of letters. Quite impressive.

For the publisher, I didn't keep track of many of the missed words that I expect were picked up in the final edit, but page 129, the opening paragraph of chapter 13 didn't make sense:"...showed Rush a letter she had considered almost a daughter..." I suspect "received from someone she" should be in there between the "she had".

An engaging, informative read.

[Bob H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps the definitive biography on this lesser-known Founding Father, by an excellent historian (see his Appetite for America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire That Civilized the Wild West). Here, he has used a major trove of Benjamin Rush's papers and letters to construct a vivid, lively story of his life. Benjamin Rush was, of course, a signer of the Declaration of Independence at the age of 30 -- albeit after a vacancy appointment to the Continental Congress.

We also read of his rise to prominence in American medicine, as well as his professional rivalries and quarrels along the way. We also learn of his pioneering work in mental illness -- his image would be an early logo for the American Psychiatric Association. He served as a senior medical officer in Washington's army, witnessing much of the carnage and creating new methods of battlefield treatment and field sanitation, and writing field manuals that would serve the Army for some years. He would confront the terrible yellow fever epidemics in Philadelphia in 1793 and later, showing considerable courage treating the sick while risking the disease himself.

Much of his other work in history would be important, if on the edges of the picture. A signatory of the Declaration ran risk of capture and torture, as his father-in-law, Richard Stockton, another signatory, would experience. He would be an early and vociferous advocate for abolishing slavery. He would correspond with a number of the notables of the day, Jefferson and John Adams, among others, and Rush would be the one who re-kindled their friendship and correspondence after a long estrangement between the two. Rush would, through his medical-school teaching, train several generations of doctors and would have a lingering importance.

Fried does, often, show how Dr. Rush's voluble nature, spoken and written, would get him into quarrels with peers in medicine, the Army and in politics. He would disappoint, offend or clash with a number of figures, notably Washington, and this, perhaps, is why he largely disappeared from American history after his death. There have been some mentions, but this work, for perhaps the first time, makes use of his accumulated letters, professional papers, contemporary mentions and news stories to present a lively and comprehensive look at a life well-lived and well-varied. Highly recommend.

[Donald Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best biographies of a Founding Father. The author has a true passion for the topic which engulfs the reader. The selection of material from such a long productive life must have been agonizing. Benjamin Rush was obviously a key player in America's existence but also one of the least recognized. Mr. Fried made this point abundantly clear in a fresh, compelling and revealing way. This author has a unique ability to disclose the details of the subject's humanity. This is refreshingly done for a founding father. Benjamin Rush was an amazing model for many of us, a product of his time but also a visionary with a true Christian soul.

[Grumpus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The grumpus23 (23-word commentary)
I learned so much. Not only about his role as a founder, but also his revolutionary ideas regarding the treatment of mental illness.

[Porter Broyles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been on my radar since it was published in 2018.

Benjamin Rush is one of the best known forgotten founding fathers. He is quite literally in just about every book one reads on the period, more than a background character, but not quite a major character.

Origins of the United States---he's there.
Signing of the Declaration of Independence --- he's there.
Early medicine --- he's there.
Debates over the US Navy--he's there.
Lewis and Clark --- he's there.
Alexander Hamilton biographies---he's there.
Thomas Jefferson? John Adams? Abigail Adams? George Washington? he's there.

It is almost impossible to read early American history without appreciating the fact that he had a role in it.

This book helps to illuminate who he is and where he came from.

Rush was the only founding father whose father was also a founding father. He was the youngest person to sign the Declaration of Independence.

But who was he? He was a lifelong abolitionists who accidentally became a slave owner. He fought his entire life for equality---not just for men---but for all men and women regardless of race.

He believed in public education and health care.

He was a major medical expert of the period---but his methods were not always viable (he fell into the blood letting mode of medicine).

But his real legacy fell in the realm of mental health.

Rush saw the treatment of the mentally as a crime against humanity. As Surgeon General of the United States he pushed for reforms at mental asylums. He pushed for better treatment of mental patients. Patients were to be treated humanely, separated by sexes, not isolated in basements, pushed to perform excercise, and encouraged to engage in different activities---what is now known as occupational therapy.

Rush's interest in psychiatry predated the mental health issues that his son suffered---which were often ascribed as a result of the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

The American Psychiatric Association has declared Rush to be the Father of American Psychiatry.

[Steven Z. · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we think of the Founding Fathers and heroes of the American Revolution the names that are mentioned include George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John and Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison, among others. Rarely if ever does the name Benjamin Rush enter the conversation. However, in Stephen Fried’s new biography RUSH: REVOLUTION, MADNESS, AND THE VISIONARY DOCTOR WHO BECAME A FOUNDING FATHER, the author presents a truly Renaissance individual who impacted the era in which he lived on multiple levels including science, politics, sociology, psychology, and other aspects of intellectual life. The question must be asked why such a brilliant scientist and political thinker who influenced many of his contemporaries in countless ways has not been the subject of greater historical research.

Fried has filled that gap with an absorbing portrait and attempts to answer the question by arguing that Rush may have known too much about his fellow revolutionaries and physicians who made him privy to many of their deepest thoughts. After his death in 1813, Adams and Jefferson, along with his family members suppressed his writings resulting in the diminution of his legacy. According to Fried he would become the “footnote founder, a second-tier founder.”

No matter where Rush falls in the pantheon of the Founding Fathers after reading Fried’s work it is clear he was an exceptional historical figure who impacted many aspects of American society and politics during his lifetime. From his education as a physician, his polemical writings, his role during the revolution, the people he developed relationships with, his impact after the revolution in dealing with mental illness, and raising the level of the health of Americans Rush’s life is worthy of exploration. Fried begins with his medical education stressing the methods available in the 1760s. The study of anatomy and the compounding of medicines created a baseline in which to compare what existed and the improvements that would develop as Rush’s career evolved. His mentors, Doctors John Morgan and Willian Shippen are important in that they provided Rush with knowledge of techniques and diagnostics which laid the ground work for what George Washington would complain, “those damn physicians” who later could not get along because of their egos causing a great deal of trouble during the revolution and after. From the outset Rush’s approach to medicine, i.e., dissection, obstetrics, and midwifery at the time were controversial and provoked a great deal of opposition. As Fried lays out the development of Rush’s belief system it was clear he was his own man and was not shy about putting his opinions in letters and pamphlets and rarely backed away from his approach to medicine or politics.

The strength of Fried’s approach rests on integrating Rush’s writings/opinions from his diaries, journals, letters, and common place books into the narrative. Fried uses this material providing intimate details of Rush’s most important relationships during a lifetime in which he developed with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and a host of medical contemporaries. Rush was a prolific writer and soon employed “the pamphlet” as his major tool in letting the public know his opinions, many of which rubbed people the wrong way. One of his first pamphlets reflects his dilettantish nature published in the early 1770s, “Sermons to Gentlemen on Temperance and Exercise,” in addition to publishing his views as a Philadelphian concerning the English tax on tea which would lead directly to the Boston Tea Party, and his influence and editing of Thomas Paine’s COMMON SENSE. Rush would dabble in all types of subjects, but his underlying coda was to improve society, but from his own perspective. Eventually he would be a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Fried’s narrative recounts the course of the American Revolution in a clear and concise manner. There is nothing that is presented that previous historians have not mined. What sets Fried’s work apart is the role played by Rush in attending the medical needs of the colonists even crossing the Delaware with Washington. Rush witnessed the horrors of 18th century warfare firsthand and he used what he experienced as a basis for a platform to improve medical care through diagnosis, technique, medicines, and the creation of military hospitals. Rush tended to rub people the wrong way with his writing and commentary, a flaw that got him into trouble with many people including his commentary about Washington’s leadership.

Rush had no compunction about criticizing his mentors particularly Dr. William Shippen leadership as Chief Physician and Inspector-General during the revolution. Historians have pointed out the lack of food, clothing, and pay that colonial soldiers had to cope with. Fried takes it further by exploring the weaknesses of medical care for soldiers. Rush would finally resign from Washington’s army in 1778, but many of his ideas about hospital care were implemented. Later Rush would testify at Shippen’s court-martial against Washington’s advice, but he would be acquitted by one vote.

Fried does not overlook Rush’s private life. He would not marry until the age of thirty because of the advice of his mother. He would marry Julia Stockton who was sixteen, but they had a long life together and were deeply in love. The marriage would produce thirteen pregnancies, but unfortunately only six children would live to adulthood. He was a good father and provider, but as with most men during the period he was away from home at least half the time until the 1781-1786 period were, he devoted himself to his family and medical practice.

Fried describes Rush’s political role in detail particularly after the American Revolution. He had been a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and later would be a delegate to the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention which would ratify the Constitution in 1787. Rush also became involved in the issue of slavery. He would become an abolitionist; despite the fact he did own one slave who he would free in 1793 and he argued profusely concerning the inhumanity of the “peculiar institution.” Another of his pet peeves was the lack of a comprehensive educational system in Pennsylvania and after the new nation was ratified. He worked assiduously to include women, blacks and immigrants in his program and helped create what would become Dickinson College and Franklin and Marshall later on in addition to improving medical curricula at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.

But what Rush is most noted for was his attempts at improving care for his patients. He would serve in numerous capacities during his medical career and once gain rubbed many the wrong way. His work with the mentally ill is key as he found their treatment abhorrent and studied numerous cases to determine a better way of treatment. He published a number of pamphlets outlining his ideas that included how best to raise the level of mental health care and arguing that mental illness was a disease to be treated and that patient care was important and they should not be locked away in basements chained to the wall. He would be involved in creating the University of Pennsylvania Hospital and helped create the first American Medical society and would soon oversee the care of the mentally ill. Perhaps Fried’s most incisive chapter deals with Rush’s handling of the 1793 yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia which killed with “biblical proportions.” Employing Rush’s letters to his wife Julia the reader is exposed to the depth of the tragedy that unfolded. Rush favored a more extreme treatment of victims which provoked a great deal of controversy with his colleagues. It is interesting how a politically partisan approach to treatment took place. Doctors who had Federalist leanings tended to oppose Rush’s methods, while Democratic-Republicans tended to support Rush (sound familiar!). Fried delves into the effect of the disease on Rush’s family, friends, and cohorts and the reader is provided insights into the approach taken toward an epidemic in the early 1790s.

Fried spends a great deal of time examining Rush’s later years which were dominated by his correspondence with John Adams who he was able to convince to reconcile with Thomas Jefferson. Further his writing remained prolific particularly in relation to his work with the mentally ill working to improve their treatment and living conditions and continuing his lectures at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. Rush was always looking to improve the quality of life of his patients and with the deterioration of his son John’s mental health he redoubled his efforts in the areas of alcoholism and mental stability.

Fried has written a comprehensive and fascinating biography raising the historical profile of Benjamin Rush for a twenty first century audience. Rush was a flawed character whose comments and writings often got him in trouble, but as Fried points out repeatedly his motives were usually pure, and his goal was to raise the level of many aspects of society. Fried has created the most comprehensive work to date on Rush, but also has uncovered a treasure trove of documentary sources that can be mined by future historians

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating biography of a Founding Father who many do not remember or know anything about. Rush was one of the early medical doctors who was also intimately involved in the politics of the Revolution and was close with all the famous Founders from history - Washington (difficult relationship), Adams, Jefferson - he was in the middle of everything.

I most enjoyed the stories of his medical practice and the advances he made - as well as the mistakes along the way. Most interesting was how Rush focused on mental illness and how his oldest son suffered from mental illness for much of the final years of his life.

The biography was well written and worth the read. I have read quite a bit of the founding era, but this book was great in that I learned a great deal that was new and interesting.

[Alexw · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Rush's courage during the American Revolution and steadfast devotion to his patients during the yellow fever epidemics is unparalleled, he also owned a slave while campaigning to abolish slavery.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: A full-length biography of this doctor-founder of the American republic covering his personal life and beliefs, advocacy, war service, and friendships with the Founders, and estrangement from Washington.

He turns up in almost every biography of an American founder or account of the American War of Independence. He played a pivotal role in battle field hygiene, the training of American doctors, and in the field of mental illness. His profile adorns the logo of the American Psychiatric Association. But one has to look hard for accounts of the life of Dr. Benjamin Rush until recently. Even John Adams expressed displeasure that Ben Franklin received far more notice although he believed Benjamin Rush the better man. In the past year, this balance has begun to be redressed. Harlow Giles Unger, who has written on most of the Founders has published a biography on Rush. 

A fellow Philadelphian, journalist Stephen Fried, has completed what may be the definitive account of Rush's life, using a growing archive of Rush's correspondence and other documents, to give us a many-faceted portrait of one of America's most distinctive Founders.

He begins with a spirited young boy who lost his father before turning six, lived with an aunt and uncle while attending Reverend Samuel Finley's school. He graduated from Princeton at fourteen, apprenticed under Dr. John Redman for the next five years, and then went to Edinburgh for medical studies.

On his return, he is offered a chair in Chemistry at the College of Philadelphia, while alienating two of his mentors, John Morgan and William Shippen over credits on publications. With Shippen, this is just the beginning.

He is friends with nearly all the Founders, particularly as their paths crossed in Philadelphia. His welcome and advice to John Adams was critical in winning the support of the other colonies to the resistance that began in Massachusetts. He was highly esteemed by Franklin and succeeded Franklin as chair of the Philosophical Society of which they were both a part. He was a sounding board to Thomas Paine as he composed Common Sense. He is one of the youngest signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Like others, he sets aside personal interests to head a surgical department for the war effort, and confronts horrible battlefield conditions and Dr. Shippen's mishandling of funds and resources as Surgeon General. His efforts to protest this ultimately fails, but here, as elsewhere, his pen achieves what he otherwise could not in his manual for battle field hygiene, implemented over the next hundred years and saving many lives. The other, and more profound controversy of the war concerned an unsigned letter he sent to Patrick Henry expressing reservations about Washington's leadership. Henry passed the letter along to Washington, who recognized Rush's handwriting. Relations were never warm, thereafter. In later years, he expressed both regret for the letter, and admiration for Washington.

The same passion that got him into trouble also made him an effective advocate with many causes. He was a devout believer, but participated in both Presbyterian and Anglican congregations and was an early proponent of religious tolerance. He loved conversation with skeptics like Jefferson while remaining orthodox in his own beliefs (even reciting an Anglican prayer book prayer on his deathbed). He advocated for the rights of blacks and the abolition of slavery (although he owned a slave that he only eventually and quietly emancipated) and helped start the first African church in Philadelphia. He was a proponent of education, founding Dickinson College, and advocated for the education of women. Perhaps most significant, with his appointment to the Philadelphia Hospital, he noticed the poor conditions of those suffering from mental illness, campaigning for separate and more humane treatment facilities. One of the most poignant aspects of this focus was that his eldest son John was one of his patients. He pioneered occupational therapies and treatments for addiction.

As a doctor, Fried's portrait is of a dedicated, even heroic figure, tragically wedded to the dubious or even harmful methods of his day, notably the bleeding and purging of patients, which may have hastened mortality in a number of cases. His medical treatises often are extended defenses of these measures. Still, he remained in Philadelphia through a horrendous yellow fever epidemic, contracting (and surviving) the disease himself. He was considered one of the leading medical figures of the day, consulting with Lewis and Clark, provisioning them with medicines, including what they reported to be a very effective laxative! His greatest medical contribution may have been the hygiene and sanitation measures he recommended for the military that no doubt reduced the number of deaths from conditions in military camps.

While Rush's correspondence got him in trouble in the early part of his life, at another point, he was responsible for a reconciliation that led to a most amazing exchange of letters. For a dozen years, Adams and Jefferson had been estranged from each other since the election of 1800. Rush was friends with both. He began by sharing a "dream" with Adams (a common device in their letters) about Adams and Jefferson resuming their friendship. Slowly, he helped the two of them resume correspondence, which eventually swelled to over 280 letters before both died July 4, 1826, fifty years after signing the Declaration of Independence with Rush. Both would outlive Rush, who died either of typhus or tuberculosis in 1813.

Altogether Rush and his wife Julia had thirteen children, a number dying in infancy or youth (not uncommon at this time). Richard, the second born served in both the Madison and Monroe administrations in cabinet positions while James followed in his steps as a physician and became a prominent figure, marrying into wealth.

Fried's portrayal drew me in by exploring this distinctive man in his greatness and flaws. His youthful ambition and sense of rectitude overpowers his judgment of what is both appropriate and possible. He could be quite prickly in defending his own reputation, especially during the yellow fever epidemic, where his methods, if not his dedication, could be questioned. He shines in his friendships, his advocacy, and his love for his wife. He also seems something of a tragic figure as he watches the dissolution of his eldest son's sanity, and the hopes that he would follow in his steps. I suspect he wasn't an easy man to have as a father. 

Fried has done us a great service. He has chronicled in full the life of one of the Founders who obviously deserves far more attention than he has received. Instead of being a bit player in the stories of others, we are introduced to Rush on his own terms, and begin to understand why he was in all the other stories. Were it not for him, we would not have the sparkling correspondence between Adams and Jefferson and the humane treatment of the mentally ill. You might say, he was the doctor who assisted at the birth of a nation.

_____________________________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this an advanced review e-galley of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own

[Angie Reisetter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once upon a time, I lived in Rushville, Indiana, in Rush County and home of Benjamin Rush Middle School, so I knew more than the average American about Benjamin Rush before running across this biography. I was excited to see it, since I've never read much about him other than surface-level timelines. Fried brings together the different vocations of Benjamin Rush: doctor, man of science, revolutionary, father, husband, friend and advisor. Like most real humans, Benjamin Rush had some faults and made some mistakes. He also did some pretty remarkable things, from recommending health-related policies to save lives in the revolutionary army to fundamentally improving medicine's view of mental illness from something indicating spiritual doom to something studiable and treatable, an illness of humans with souls.

Rush haunts the footnotes of history and was well connected throughout the revolution to names we all already know. He was close friends with John Adams and Franklin and corresponded with Jefferson. He was a cordial acquaintance with Washington until he made a grave mistake and ran afoul of Washington during the war (before that, he spent a lot of time with Washington and the troops and was there for the crossing of the Delaware). He collaborated with Thomas Paine on "Common Sense". After John Dickenson left the 2nd Continental Congress because he could not in good faith sign the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush stepped in and signed on behalf of Pennsylvania. After the war, Rush founded a College and named it after his fellow Pennsylvanian instead of after himself (Dickenson College). He was responsible for reconciling Adams and Jefferson late in their lives. He was also instrumental in establishing the first African American churches in Philadelphia, something that took me by surprise.

But the subjects I found most intriguing was the story I didn't already know: the development of medicine at that age. When Rush started, there were no medical schools in the Americas; it was an apprenticed career he got into after graduating from Princeton. He later served as a chemistry professor and later a general medical professor at the medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, helping to establish that school. There were great debates about whether blood letting was really such a great idea (Rush was firmly in the blood letting camp). He served tirelessly during the yellow fever epidemics of the late 1700s in Philadelphia and worked to figure out what would cure it and what caused it (he never figured it out, but the efforts in his note-taking were interesting). There was a debate about medicine versus the knife for addressing tumors (he advocated surgery to remove tumors as soon as possible). He railed against the insanity of duels. And he wrote about all kinds of "manias" in human life, principally that of alcohol, which took so many lives.

He clearly wasn't a super easy man to get along with. He had feuds with Washington and then with Hamilton (although his sons became fast friends with Hamilton's sons). He was often criticized in the media of the day for both his politics and his medical practices. But Fried showed Rush to be worthy of a great deal of praise and having influence over a great deal of what we take for granted today. The book details both Adams and Rush being worried about their children (primarily their sons) and dealing with heartbreak related to them, and in the conclusion tells us that John Quincy Adams and Richard Rush ran for President and Vice-President well after the deaths of their fathers. I'm not usually a huge biography fan, since they often drag on with minute detail, but this one included so much of the big picture of early America and early medicine/psychology that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I got a free copy to review from First to Read. And P.S., even longer ago, I used to live in Story City, Iowa in Story County, so if anyone wants to write a great biography of Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, most famous for writing the decision in the Amistad case, I'd love to read it.

[Lensey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biographers amaze me. I cannot imagine the amount of time and energy that goes into a book like this, but I am so glad that Stephen Fried saw fit to write this amazing biography on a founding father that I had previously never even knew existed! This book is a fascinating page-turner that spans the beginning of the American Revolution all the way past the War of 1812. And Benjamin Rush was a fascinating man! Yes, he was a 'founding father' who signed the Declaration of Independence, but more importantly he was a pioneer in medical care in the United States--particularly in the realm of mental health. And I, for one, am always fascinated at how far we've come in the world of medicine. This book was so incredibly well-written and easy to read--I'd recommend it to anyone who loves history!

[Joseph Adelizzi, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughts after my third reading of this fine work:

I'm not usually inclined to commit a crime. Actually, I’m usually on the other end of the spectrum of lawbreaking - I’ll obey laws most people feel no compunction in ignoring. Don’t get behind me on the highway. However, there was that one time.

We were entertaining family visiting Philadelphia from Hawaii. We met at Independence Hall, took the tour, went to the Liberty Bell, got ice cream at the Franklin Fountain, and, maybe it was the mint chocolate chip that put the idea in our heads, we ended up finishing our day with a visit to the US Mint.

There’s some cool stuff in the lobby of the Mint, and we thought it would be a great place to get a picture of the kids. No sooner had we arranged the kids and pulled out our cell phones than US Marshals, or the like, appeared to materialize from the walls to severely admonish us for trying to use cameras inside the US Mint. Message heard loud and clear. We all put our phones away and proceeded with the self-guided tour. No problem because, as I said, for better or for worse, I’m a law follower.

But then we came to a big window looking out over a cemetery, the Christ Church burial ground, which contains the body of the world famous Benjamin Franklin as well as the less famous, but for me more appealing, Benjamin - Dr. Benjamin Rush. If you knew where to look, and I did, from that window you can see Dr. Rush’s grave. How great would a picture from there be - a photo of Rush’s grave taken from the US Mint, the very place where the doctor served as treasurer from 1797 until his death in 1813, thanks to a kind and generous gesture from Dr. Rush’s good friend John Adams. I really really really wanted to take that picture. My hand was shaking as I fought its desire to reach into my pocket for the phone and break the law. Alas, my internal Javert prevailed.

I’ve read Stephen Fried’s excellent book on Dr. Rush three times now. Something about Rush repeatedly calls out to me. It’s weird. Had I known him I’d have been fatigued by his lack of control when it came to publicly expressing his opinions. I certainly would have been put off by his owning a slave even as he opined against slavery. It’s possible I would not have liked the man. Could my affinity be so parochial as stemming from the proximity of his birthplace and many Philadelphia residences to my birthplace and significantly fewer Philadelphia residences? I’d like to think my obsession for Rush is the product of his integrity. Yes he made mistakes, big mistakes, but he always was righted by some inner compass of integrity.

On that given Sunday afternoon I didn’t take that coveted photograph from the window at the Mint. I kept the phone in my pocket, got back in my car, merged onto route I95, and drove my family back home. Did I drive about 5 mph above the speed limit to show I can be as badass as the next guy? No comment.


Original Review:

I rated Stephen Fried’s Rush: Revolution, Madness & the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father 5 stars, but if Goodreads would allow I’d give it 13 stars in honor of this worthy founding father. I recently reviewed a purported biography of Benjamin Rush which I said was a discredit to biographers everywhere. Well, this Fried work could very well stand as the quintessential biography. It has depth, intelligence, flow, scope, emotion, and is pleasantly readable.

A few times as I made my way through this work I was surprised to find myself inside Benjamin Rush’s soul. One particular example occurred during Fried’s retelling of the infamous revelation of Rush’s anti-Washington letter to Patrick Henry to General Washington himself. My heart sank as I read of Washington opening Henry’s communique containing Rush’s damning unsigned letter very shortly after the General had read the latest obsequious letter from Dr. Rush. It was crippling to imagine, with Fried’s help, Washington holding the two letters side-by-side under candlelight, comparing the handwriting, brow furrowing as he confirmed his suspicion the two disparate letters were from the same man. Integrity, moral faculty, honesty - things I had come to associate and admire in Dr. Rush - felt shattered. And then, too, there is the whole William Grubber conundrum.

That is not say I relinquished my respect for Dr. Rush. I still feel he was a good man, indeed an excellent man, worthy of our respect and gratitude, driven by a far-reaching yet often off-putting moral certitude which for the most part served him, and us, well. Did he come up short on occasion? For sure, but moral perfection seems to be an asymptotic endeavor for all of us, and we would do quite well standing on his shoulders. Perhaps Dr. Benjamin Rush put it best when he said of himself “he aimed well.”

[Shoshana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A member of the Founding Generation, Dr Benjamin Rush has been unforgivably allowed to fall into more or less obscurity, something which will be rectified if Stephen Fried’s superb biography of the good doctor gets the recognition it deserves. I understand that Fried is a journalist, and this biography reads like a novel; it is spritely and moves along, never boring nor dry.

I really enjoyed this book which is everything a biography should be. It tells the life of Benjamin Rush in great detail and with gusto, satisfactorily explains the context of his life and times in colonial and then independent America, and gives the reader a true picture of Rush’s interior life and character. The endnotes begin at 78% in my Kindle copy, something of which I greatly approve. I dislike intensely the recent tendency to skimp on, or eliminate footnotes entirely. I want to know where an author sourced his or her materials. I read every endnote, and I cannot be the only person to do so.

I would also like to mention specifically the epilogue and the “Aftermath.” So often biographies end with the subject’s death, with perhaps a few lines about the funeral or family members. I was very pleased to read a discussion of the fate of Dr Rush’s papers, to read about his family, and to follow how Benjamin Rush was allowed to fall out of the conversation of the Founding Generation.

I hope this biography of the unjustly neglected Benjamin Rush gets the recognition it truly deserves, both as a way of bringing Dr Rush back to his rightful place amongst the Founders, but also because it is an exemplary biography on its own. I have read several other biographies lately, all of which suffered from obvious defects; this book shows them up, and shows what a biography can be if it is done right.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a good combination of some of my favorite things. The John Adams fan in me was in love with all of the correspondence between them interspersed throughout the book. The American Revolution history fan in me loved learning a non-soldier's view of the frontlines of the war. The science nerd in me absolutely soaked up the medical and psychological insights Rush worked towards in his lifetime. And the genealogist in me loved the look into his family and especially his sons. I am even more fascinated by this man now, and I want to read and learn everything I can about him now. Highly recommend!

[Jeffrey McDowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating account of one of America's least-known yet most influential founding fathers. I highly recommend!

[Julie Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful biography of Benjamin Rush - really enjoyed the first half describing his revolutionary activity but felt it dragged a bit in the middle. (There is only so much I want to hear about bloodletting as a cure for Yellow Fever.) Throughout the biography Fried highlights how the contentious political atmosphere surrounding America's founding deeply affected Rush's career - from poisonous newspaper articles, political appointments to court action - and even a medical appointment derailed due to the intervention of Alexander Hamilton. It wasn't just Adams and Jefferson who were affected by the Federalist / Anti Federalist infighting: A non political family like the Rushes was affected as well simply because they made their leanings known (he was a Jeffersonian while managing to remain friends with both Jefferson and Adams.)

I feel Rush's most important contribution to American history (aside from convincing Washington to inoculate all troops against smallpox, which saved the patriot army!) was his new ways to treat madness: as if they were people with emotions as compared to animals. Rush was one of the first to believe "madness" was a disease of the mind and not "bad humours" or demonic possession or even heavenly revenge for moral failings. Thus, the mad did not deserve to be punished and thus should have things like heat in their rooms and should not be placed on display like animals. For all his faults (including believing cold baths and bloodletting were cures) his firm belief that there was a cure somewhere for madness and that mad people were actually people needs to be highlighted.

I was also deeply impressed om Fried's treatment of Rush's conflicting views on slavery. A staunch abolitionist, Rush somehow owned a slave? He wrote pamphlets criticizing slavery, helped to open a free-black church, proposed means to educate a free black population: Yet owned a black man. Rush was indeed a man of his times.

Overall a worthwhile read.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, my goodness! Forget A. Ham, T. Jefferson and Mister Adams. If you read “Rush, you will meet our founding fathers as only their personal physician and fellow patriot could know them. Stephen Fried's biography of Benjamin Rush opens in the outskirts of Philadelphia in late summer 1774 when young Dr. Rush (28) meets a slightly older (38) and far more outgoing John Adams and dares to imply the wisdom to "Sit down, John"* before Mr. Adams even reaches the floor of Congress. *“Sit down John is a line from the musical “1776” that is also used in “Hamilton” to let us know how Adams’ passion for independence got on people’s nerves.
Professor Fried knows the present city so well that the intimate city of Philadelphia of colonial times almost becomes a character: the Rush family were neighbors of the Hamiltons (the women got along, the men did not), Loyalists and Patriots went to the same parties etc. etc. The city is full of now famous people who often thought very poorly of one another and in telling their stories through Rush’s life story, history again becomes Our Story.
Rush's activity first as an intern then as a professor in America's first medical school gained him international respect as a physician, especially in his later years as he connected "madness" with "physical well-being, but it's his behind the scenes activity as editor to Thomas Paine, and as protege and friend of Benjamin Franklin that endears him to us very early on.(AND he signed the Declaration of Independence!)
Reading “Rush” I discovered a new hero and when I learned that it was Rush who brokered the truce between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson after so many years of them not speaking, it was a “but of course he did” moment for me. I look forward to the day I can hand the biography to my grandsons and say “Here. Become like him.”

[Sean O · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot. Fried is a good writer and an even better reader. He managed to unearth a tremendous amount of research to write a compelling biography of a medical doctor and founding father.

Fried has a knack of taking an interesting topic (at least to me) and wringing out a fascinating book out of it.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many thoughts upon finishing this biography of Benjamin Rush. First, what a wonder it is that the men—and women—of the 1700s and 1800s wrote such exquisite letters. Second, what a wonder it is that authors like Stephen Fried have the stamina to dig for and through hundreds (even thousands) of source materials, and the talent to make sense of them. Third, what a wonder it is that marriages survived when founding fathers were off doing their founding, leaving wives to bear, raise, and too often bury child after child. Fried gives one quite a sense of the times.

A couple thoughts stand out:
Medicine was still in the bloodletting stage in Rush’s time. While Rush had progressive thoughts about hygiene during wartime (shorn heads and all), proper care of the mentally ill, and dangers associated with overuse of liquor, it was shocking to realize that even the most educated had not a clue what goes on inside the body, how disease arises and spreads, nor how to cure. Immense strides in medicine have been made in recent times, and for that I am immensely grateful.

And while I finish the book with new respect for Dr. Rush, I so admired Mrs. Rush. I particularly loved her admonition to her adult son who was struggling financially: “Rouse you like a strong minded man, and resolve that you will be independently limiting your expenses to your income, let that be what it may, and here let us drop this subject.” That’s tellin’ him, Mama Rush!

Finally, in the Afterword I read about descendant Julia Rush Biddle Henry “whose skeletal frame and larger-than-life hair-dos had attracted fashion photographers for years...”. Oh my goodness, Google her ASAP. You won’t regret it.

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free Kindle copy of Rush by Stephen Fried courtesy of Net Galley  and Crown, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as my total exposure to Benjamin Rush was as the doctor who instructed Lewis and Clark on medicine for their famous exploration. This is the first book by Stephen Fried that I have read.

It turns out that Dr. Benjamin Rush turned out to be a lesser known, but important player in the early development of our country. He resided in Philadelphia which was the center of the war for independence and was influential through friendships he developed with John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

Besides his role in the revolution, I found that through his study and treatments for mental illness he established that is was a caused by many factors and not "humors of the body" as was believed for centuries.

Rush is truly a leading figure in the early development of our country both in a poitical and medical capacity. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the either subject.

[Beau Stucki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fried's writing is lite & unadorned -- a straightforward, but cleareyed, approach to the life of a vibrant polymath who seemed to have his hand in most events at the time of America's founding. The book becomes, therefore, not only an intimate walk through Rush's life, but also a new vantage by which to view The Revolution and the problems, perils, and prosperity of the earliest days of the USA.

Fried's biography of Rush solidifies into a portrait of striking steadfastness & enthusiasm tempered by a strong sense of charity and a natural empathy. Rush's story is not one of salacious scandals and cynicism, but rather a true believer's struggles, triumphs, and persecutions -- highlighting episodes, themes, and beliefs often overlooked in the modern understand of The Founding Fathers.

[Jules · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps more a litany of facts than a synthesis of ideas or a profile of the man, Rush never actually gets airborne. By the time I plodded through to the chapter notes and bibliography, I felt I knew Rush as a fussy, well-meaning, and probably bi-polar doctor who cared more about hygiene than many of his medical peers and who toadied up to a lot of his contemporaries -- many of whom actually WERE "founding fathers."
Contrasted to, for instance, Victoria Johnson's well-written and engaging biography of David Hosack in American Eden, Fried's Rush animated nothing except my desire to finish the book and move on to something more satisfying.

[Joey Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be an interesting account of a very intelligent man, who contributed greatly in many areas at the beginnings of the United States. He was a doctor, prolific reader and writer, and engaged in all things political. He was a friend to the first 3 presidents, chief surgeon in the Revolutionary War, and researcher/advocate for those suffering from mental health issues. Through his letters with medical mentors and students, and those to his wife and family, you learn just how much Benjamin Rush contributed to many aspects of our country. A good read for those interested in history.

[Jim Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was initially interested in Rush having read about him helping Lewis & Clark in Undaunted Courage. He was an interesting cat that has passion for the American Revolution, but largely remained on the political sidelines while starting a professional medical community in the US. He remained friends and collegial with Franklin, Adams and Jefferson though their lives. An interesting read with great research from Fried.

[Dan Graser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must confess at the outset here that this lost founding father, Benjamin Rush, is a figure of which I began this book completely ignorant except for basic name recognition and from ancillary mentions in other works of history. As such, I cannot comment as to the place of this 600 page work from Stephen Fried in the collected writing/study on this figure, however, I can certainly recommend it to anyone who would start such a work in a similar position to my own.

There are likely many reasons why Benjamin Rush is not a more frequently discussed founding father in the relentless torrent of works on this subject that appear in print and media. Principally, it is likely due to the fact that although he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a pivotal figure among many other revolutionaries and early founders, his own legislative contributions are small. This is primarily due to the fact that unlike other intellectuals of his generation who were more, "gentleman scientists," to borrow a term from Tom Shachtmann, Rush was an actively practicing and lifelong physician, surgeon, and psychiatrist. And though many have come to terms with the fact that "great" figures in history will always have shortcomings when discussed with modern values and mores, the practice of medicine from 250 years ago is plainly a subject that does not age well in discussion. Thus when hearing about how much bloodletting a supposed brilliant man undertook during his lifetime, the memory becomes spoiled in a bluntly visceral yet unintellectual fashion.

This is where Fried is at his strongest with this work, reminding us just how far ahead of his time Rush was in so many areas. Not only far ahead of his contemporaries on the education of women, he was equally forceful on the abolition of slavery, the advancement of medical sciences, and most prominently, the study of psychiatric disorders as a discipline unto themselves which also necessitated a great rise in the standard of care so-called (at the time), "maniacs," received. Though we can of course look back now and comment on how wrongheaded much of 18th and 19th century medicine was, Dr. Rush was undoubtedly a great force for change and a practicer of what he preached as exemplified in his relentless efforts during the yellow fever afflictions in Philadelphia. You can also tell much about a figure by the groups and people who mourn their passing, which in his case included Ben Franklin's Philosophical Society, the Society for the Abolition of Slavery, Pennsylvania Hospital staff, and foundational members from two African American churches in Philadelphia he had helped found.

Rush is also a founder who had unique insights into many of our other founding fathers through correspondence, quite simply because they would ask him for medical advice following the customary intellectual banter, earning him the early sobriquet of "American Hippocrates." Thus, though there is extensive discourse with Thomas Jefferson on a number of issues, one of those persistent issues is Jefferson's diarrhea and how to palliate its effects...However through his correspondence he was able to play the role of presidential mediator between Adams and Jefferson and much of their later correspondence, of which much has been written especially as a counterweight to this age of digital political hate and extremism, is due entirely to the direct suggestion from Rush that these two seminal figures reconnect.

Fried is a wonderful guide through what was for me quite a hefty amount of new material and especially for those with only a passing knowledge of this name, I would encourage this volume as a highly readable and erudite starting-place.