Less than five years after his first landing in the American colonies, James McHenry, a well-education Scots-Irish immigrant, was serving with the Continental Army outside Boston (Massachusetts), and his military experience led him into a lengthy career of public service where he forcefully and consistently upheld the ideal of a strong central government. This booklet on James McHenry is one in a series on Revolutionary War soldiers who later signed the U.S. Constitution. The booklet reviews his first years in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), his military service as a physician under George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, and his public service after the War as a Maryland representative to the Constitutional Convention and as Secretary of War under Presidents George Washington and John Adams. Personal data about McHenry and a bibliographic essay of further readings are also included. (DJC)