Benjamin
Rush is not a name most people recognize today, but he was one
of the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence,
a physician who served as Surgeon General of the Continental army,
and an influential social reformer and advocate for the views
expressed by the Universalists. Dr. Rush championed many social
causes long before most other reformers in America. He advocated
for the abolition of slavery, educating women, prison reform and
abolishing the death penalty, conserving natural resources and
the benefits of a more healthy diet including abstaining from
alcohol and tobacco. In 1792, he wrote an essay calling for the
establishment of a Department of Peace headed by a cabinet-level
Secretary of Peace, which he advocated would help to promote a
more peaceful and prosperous future for the new nation. Historians
also note that Benjamin Rush is responsible for helping the nation's
second and third presidents -- John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
- mend a broken friendship that had prevented them from speaking
to each other for years. When Benjamin Rush died, John Adams declared,
"I know of no Character living or dead, who has done more real
good in America."
