Dr. Benjamin Rush

The Founding Father Who Healed a Wounded Nation

By: Harlow Giles Unger

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

A gripping, often startling biography of the Founding Father of an America that other Founding Fathers forgot--an America of women, African Americans, Jews, Roman Catholics, Quakers, indentured workers, the poor, the mentally ill, and war veterans

Ninety percent of Americans could not vote and did not enjoy rights to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness when our Founding Fathers proclaimed, "all men are created equal." Alone among those who signed the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush heard the cries of those other, deprived Americans and stepped forth as the nation's first great humanitarian and social reformer.

Remembered primarily as America's leading, most influential physician, Rush led the Founding Fathers in calling for abolition of slavery, equal rights for women, improved medical care for injured troops, free health care for the poor, slum clearance, citywide sanitation, an end to child labor, free universal public education, humane treatment and therapy for the mentally ill, prison reform, and an end to capital punishment.

Using archival material from Edinburgh, London, Paris, and Philadelphia, as well as significant new materials from Rush's descendants and historical societies, Harlow Giles Unger's new biography restores Benjamin Rush to his rightful place in American history as the Founding Father of modern American medical care and psychiatry.

Surprisingly amazing!

This was superbly told and masterfully narrated! I learned so much about this relatively lesser known founding father.

An informative listen

I enjoyed listening to this book. Benjamin Rush was an amazing person. I learned quite a bit about history from perspective that I have not heard before.

A Great Humanitarian

Benjamin Rush was one of the 56 signors of the Declaration of Independence. Dr. Rush was one of the few highly trained physicians of this era. One thing that jumped out at me was that he fought for universal health care through-out this career, and we are still fighting for it all these years later.

The book is well written and researched. H. G. Unger benefitted from the many letters between Rush and his friend, John Adams. Adams was not only a prolific letter writer but he also kept his correspondence. Unger also had access to the prodigious published writings of Rush but also his voluminous correspondence. Unger details Rush’s early life, education, medical and political career. Dr. Rush was an advocate for public health, public sewers(sanitation) and for treating mental illness as a disease. During the Revolutionary War he served as medical officer for the Pennsylvania army. Rush also became involved in politics while fighting for proper care and supplies, etc., for the medical corp. I found the book easy to read and packed with information about medicine and public health in the early years of our country. I highly recommend this book to any history buff.

The book is nine hours and four minutes. Robert Petkoff does a good job narrating the book. Petkoff is a stage actor and audiobook narrator. He has received the Audie Award and many Earphone Awards for his narrations.

Good history

To me previously unknown, but a large piece of American history. The had tremendous influence on the inner workings of our country. There is relevant information and good learning for us still today.

Lively and informative

While I have encountered mentions of Dr. Rush in many other books but knew very little about him. Clearly he was a remarkable person. This is a lively and entertaining biography. I’d like to add that narration is exceptionally good at capturing the tone of the book, and the character of the man, a reading as lively as the prose.