Amazon.com: Benjamin Franklin: An American Life: 9780684807614: Isaacson, Walter: Books

From the get-go, the brilliant American biographer, Walter Isaacson, reminds us that Benjamin Franklin is the Founding Father, “who smiles at us.” He was a “Renaissance Man” in every sense of the term: a brilliant statesman, eminent scientist, and peripatetic sage of the Enlightenment. Benjamin Franklin’s characteristic balance of an often generous, but nonetheless caustic wit and propensity for constant self-improvement remain, for my money, the imperishable fixtures of the American Enlightenment. From Birth, Franklin was determined to rankle and enlighten in equal measure. He grew up under the patronage of Calvinism, as was his father’s (Josiah Franklin) wont, and young Benjamin was instructed to defer to its inflexible posture. Josiah refined his own pedagogy in such a way to augment his children’s future to be without any particular consequence; it was a stern mixture of homespun paternal wisdom, conservative industry and, most importantly, the virtues of thrift. Josiah was less concerned with Franklin’s personal fulfilment than he was with his ability to service the practical ends of industry and labour in a then largely agricultural America. From a young age, Franklin was experimental by nature, and the import of this trait was particularly present during his bold scientific adventures and as a man of letters, but his characteristic successes were often frustrated by other failed excursions. His first job was as a tallow chandler (candle maker) perhaps the least coveted occupation in history. His next job as an apprentice printer under his brother James was more fitting and it gave the young Franklin a taste of things to come in the world of the free press – both rewarding and detrimental. At this time, Franklin impertinently chose fraternal solidarity in an attempt to discredit Cotton Mather’s support of smallpox inoculation; a glaring error on Franklin’s part. This is an important historical anecdote, as it reveals Franklin’s intransigent sense of duty to a cause and his disposition for self-improvement. After Franklin’s self-imposed exile from Boston, Isaacson effortlessly chronicles his custom of travel and worldly pursuits. His next stop on the canvas of the American colonies would be, ironically enough, his official place of residence until death. It was to be Philadelphia that Franklin called home, and befitting to his fondness for the state of Pennsylvania, the region which complemented his love of practical sciences and writing. From political intrigues against the Penn proprietors to drawing electricity, Franklin intensified his scientific endeavours, and with a deft pen he infused playful prose with biting insight and political clarity as the official method of diplomacy. These traits were a real boon to his standing in England and, particularly as Minister Plenipotentiary, in France. He gladly assumed the role of an avuncular icon to the American people, and his patronage was returned with warmth and reverence.

One of the reasons I found the narrative style so compelling is that Isaacson was apt to dispense with hero worship and has instead developed a synthesis of incisive political history, as well as an intimate portrait of a brilliant, but nonetheless flawed man. The Founding Fathers have been deified by the Christian apologetic in America as indefatigable, stoic, portentous stalwarts leading the charge of revolution against a criminal empire, but this is a grotesque and palpably untrue misapprehension. Not only was there great (and justified) trepidation with emancipation among the Founding Fathers and the American people, such an assertion also serves to undermine the irreverent charm and wit, which is what endeared the people to the Founding Fathers in the first place. Franklin had an insatiable sexual appetite, and never was this trait more distinct during his time as ambassador and courtier in France. Franklin’s mission in France was an interesting social and political experiment because it suffused the salacious hedonism of the continental bourgeoisie with the starched can-do attitude of American stoicism. It was a harmonious cultural feast for the witty and lecherous Franklin and a complete disaster for the dour puritan, John Adams. France was a second home to Franklin, in more ways than one. His cause was to America, but it was the cultural bedrock of the European Enlightenment that defined Franklin as a human being. He was intimate with the likes of David Hume, Lord Kames, Adam Smith, Joseph Priestley, Thomas Paine, and Voltaire. These men were not only profound influences on Franklin; they were instrumental in forging the economic, scientific, political and ethical value systems we still live with today. As a result, Franklin’s calculus of personal rights/oughts often clashed with his preternatural joy of high culture.

This is a classically American tale, one of ambition, insight, intrigue, power, tragedy and farce. Isaacson, perhaps best known for his biography on Steve Jobs, artfully weaves the underpinning political, social, and moral issues, which drove Franklin and his countrymen into an epoch of breathless cultural achievements. This is top-drawer popular history.