By the time he was 30, Dr. Benjamin Rush had signed the Declaration of Independence, edited Common Sense, toured Europe as Benjamin Franklin's protégé, and was soon to be appointed Washington's surgeon general. As the new republic coalesced, he became a visionary writer and reformer; a medical pioneer whose insights revolutionized the treatment of mental illness; an opponent of slavery and prejudice by race, religion, or gender; and the physician of America's first leaders. Reflecting on Rush's formidable accomplishments and his life of service, Stephen Fried restores him to his fitting place among the wisest and boldest Founders.