BENJAMIN RUSH: Patriot and Physician

Born in 1746 in Pennsylvania, Benjamin Rush became friends with Benjamin Franklin when Rush was studying for his medical degree in Scotland and Franklin was a representative to England. Armed with letters of introduction from Franklin, Rush met with many of the leading political and medical figures in Britain and France before returning in 1769 to Philadelphia, where he established a thriving medical practice. But Rush was just as interested in the colonies' budding independence movement as he was with medicine, and that interest led him to write an essay that, according to Brodsky (The Great Mayor ), helped to instigate the Boston Tea Party. Rush is also credited with encouraging Thomas Paine to write Common Sense . During the first Continental Congress, Rush entertained many of America's Founding Fathers, became especially close to John Adams and was a co-signer of the Declaration of Independence. After the war, Rush devoted himself to his medical practice, where he trained many of America's leading doctors and also explored new paths in mental health. One reason for Rush being so little known is that he ran afoul of George Washington as a participant in the failed Conway Cabal, which sought to oust Washington as commander in chief in 1777. Brodsky's sympathetic biography interweaves Rush's observations and experiences with the momentous events that led to the founding of the nation. (June)