Benjamin Rush: Patriot and Physician

According to our documented family tree, Dr. Rush was a distant relative relative for whom our grandson, Bengamin was named. This book let me know even more about this man, physician, diplomat, the first Surgeon General of the United States and signer of the Declaration of Independance. Compared to some of the "guick on the scene and as quickly out of favor, contemproray "heros," we presently have, our county and world would do well to encourage the development of simaliar heros today!

Modern day Constitutionalists, in their passion to defend this document against ill-conceived modern-day dilutions, sometimes make the mistake of viewing the Founding Fathers of the United States as a pantheon. They were heroes, to be sure, but they had feet of clay and sharp disagreements. Some of the issues for which a compromise was found in the Constitution are worth revisiting today. Alyn Brodsky has done a first-rate job of portraying this complex individual---Benjamin Rush, a curious combination of man of peace and man of war. He was one of the firiest firebrands in the pre-Revolutionary War days (his prolific pamphleteering helped to persuade those who had been obedient servants of the monarch, bringing to critical mass those who considered themselves defenders of the God-given right to liberty.) On the other hand, his humanitarian side is demonstrated in his pioneering work in the abolition of slavery, his visions for publicly funded schools (at which girls would study the same acedemic subjects as boys), his selfless work among the poor afflicted with Yellow Fever Plague in Philadelphia, his compassionate treatment of mentally ill patients, and due to his insight into the link between criminality and mental illness, his outspoken championing of prisonhouses as centers of reform rather than humiliation. Particularly moving was the revelation, through letters Benjamin Rush had written to both men, of the antagonistic rift that developed between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in the years after the War. It pained Benjamin Rush, who worked hard to reconcile these close friends. A testament to his success at doing so, and to the character of Benjamin Rush himself, is found in a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams when Benjamin Rush died in 1813: "...a better man than Rush could not have left us, more benevolent, more learned, of finer genius, or more honest." Adams reply to Jefferson: "I know of no character, living or dead, who has done more real good in America."

Brodsky has done a brilliant job of telling Rush's story in an honest, yet sympathetic way. He weaves the great characters of our young nation into the larger context of a world in the midst of political and economic turmoil.

Alyn Brodsky keeps turning out well-researched and very readable biographies. One wishes that he might turn his attention and talent to other genres as well. This book sheds light on a deserving figure, one who played a pivotal albeit unassuming role in American history. It's truly a shame that Rush is not better known and is often ignored (or at best treated like a footnote) in most textbooks. He was a true Renaissance man and a humanitarian. Some of his ideas were a bit misguided; he was after all a man of his times. Yet he was also, in many ways, ahead of his times, particularly in his treatment of the mentally ill. Maybe now people outside of Philadelphia (come to think of it, even them) will give him the credit he so richly deserves. As for Brodsky, we can only hope he continues to produce such good books for a long time to come. By the way, I should add that the Kirkus reviewer evidentally either only read one page of the book or is simply dim as it was abundantly clear throughout the book that Rush was a fervent patriot and that his motivation was a strong desire to see Americans achieve the freedom they deserved. Of course Rush, idealist that he was, turned out to be disappointed by what the United States (or should I say, our government and political system) became. I'm sure he's turning over in his grave considering what's going on today...not to mention most of the other Founding Fathers!