Benjamin Rush (1746-1813), American doctor and politician. He signed the American Declaration of Independence and was surgeon-general to Washington's army during the ensuing war. Rush worked on the theory of disease, on yellow fever, and was an enthusiast for bleeding up to 80% of a patient's blood as a cure. He also worked in physiology, veterinary medicine and psychology; his book the Diseases of the Mind (1812) anticipated psychoanalysis. Politically, Rush campaigned for education and against both capital punishment and slavery.