Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life book cover

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Paperback – Bargain Price, June 1, 2004

by
Price
$14.99
Format
Paperback
Pages
586
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0743258074
Dimensions
6.13 x 1.56 x 9.25 inches
Weight
1.75 pounds

Description

The Washington Post Book World The most readable full-length Franklin biography available. The New Yorker Energetic, entertaining, and worldly. The New York Times In its common sense, clarity and accessibility, it is a fitting reflection of Franklin's sly pragmatism....This may be the book that most powerfully drives a new pendulum swing of the Franklin reputation. The New York Times Book Review A thoroughly researched, crisply written, convincingly argued chronicle. Walter Isaacson is the bestselling author of biographies of Jennifer Doudna, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein. He is a professor of history at Tulane and was CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair of CNN, and editor of Time . He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2023. Visit him at Isaacson.Tulane.edu. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter One: Benjamin Franklin and the Invention of America His arrival in Philadelphia is one of the most famous scenes in autobiographical literature: the bedraggled 17-year-old runaway, cheeky yet with a pretense of humility, straggling off the boat and buying three puffy rolls as he wanders up Market Street. But wait a minute. There's something more. Peel back a layer and we can see him as a 65-year-old wry observer, sitting in an English country house, writing this scene, pretending it's part of a letter to his son, an illegitimate son who has become a royal governor with aristocratic pretensions and needs to be reminded of his humble roots.A careful look at the manuscript peels back yet another layer. Inserted into the sentence about his pilgrim's progress up Market Street is a phrase, written in the margin, in which he notes that he passed by the house of his future wife, Deborah Read, and that "she, standing at the door, saw me and thought I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward ridiculous appearance." So here we have, in a brief paragraph, the multilayered character known so fondly to his author as Benjamin Franklin: as a young man, then seen through the eyes of his older self, and then through the memories later recounted by his wife. It's all topped off with the old man's deft little affirmation -- "as I certainly did" -- in which his self-deprecation barely cloaks the pride he felt regarding his remarkable rise in the world.Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us. George Washington's colleagues found it hard to imagine touching the austere general on the shoulder, and we would find it even more so today. Jefferson and Adams are just as intimidating. But Ben Franklin, that ambitious urban entrepreneur, seems made of flesh rather than of marble, addressable by nickname, and he turns to us from history's stage with eyes that twinkle from behind those newfangled spectacles. He speaks to us, through his letters and hoaxes and autobiography, not with orotund rhetoric but with a chattiness and clever irony that is very contemporary, sometimes unnervingly so. We see his reflection in our own time.He was, during his eighty-four-year-long life, America's best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, and business strategist, and he was also one of its most practical, though not most profound, political thinkers. He proved by flying a kite that lightning was electricity, and he invented a rod to tame it. He devised bifocal glasses and clean-burning stoves, charts of the Gulf Stream and theories about the contagious nature of the common cold. He launched various civic improvement schemes, such as a lending library, college, volunteer fire corps, insurance association, and matching grant fund-raiser. He helped invent America's unique style of homespun humor and philosophical pragmatism. In foreign policy, he created an approach that wove together idealism with balance-of-power realism. And in politics, he proposed seminal plans for uniting the colonies and creating a federal model for a national government.But the most interesting thing that Franklin invented, and continually reinvented, was himself. America's first great publicist, he was, in his life and in his writings, consciously trying to create a new American archetype. In the process, he carefully crafted his own persona, portrayed it in public, and polished it for posterity.Partly, it was a matter of image. As a young printer in Philadelphia, he carted rolls of paper through the streets to give the appearance of being industrious. As an old diplomat in France, he wore a fur cap to portray the role of backwoods sage. In between, he created an image for himself as a simple yet striving tradesman, assiduously honing the virtues -- diligence, frugality, honesty -- of a good shopkeeper and beneficent member of his community.But the image he created was rooted in reality. Born and bred a member of the leather-aproned class, Franklin was, at least for most of his life, more comfortable with artisans and thinkers than with the established elite, and he was allergic to the pomp and perks of a hereditary aristocracy. Throughout his life he would refer to himself as "B. Franklin, printer."From these attitudes sprang what may be Franklin's most important vision: an American national identity based on the virtues and values of its middle class. Instinctively more comfortable with democracy than were some of his fellow founders, and devoid of the snobbery that later critics would feel toward his own shopkeeping values, he had faith in the wisdom of the common man and felt that a new nation would draw its strength from what he called "the middling people." Through his self-improvement tips for cultivating personal virtues and his civic-improvement schemes for furthering the common good, he helped to create, and to celebrate, a new ruling class of ordinary citizens.The complex interplay among various facets of Franklin's character -- his ingenuity and unreflective wisdom, his Protestant ethic divorced from dogma, the principles he held firm and those he was willing to compromise -- means that each new look at him reflects and refracts the nation's changing values. He has been vilified in romantic periods and lionized in entrepreneurial ones. Each era appraises him anew, and in doing so reveals some assessments of itself.Franklin has a particular resonance in twenty-first-century America. A successful publisher and consummate networker with an inventive curiosity, he would have felt right at home in the information revolution, and his unabashed striving to be part of an upwardly mobile meritocracy made him, in social critic David Brooks's phrase, "our founding Yuppie." We can easily imagine having a beer with him after work, showing him how to use the latest digital device, sharing the business plan for a new venture, and discussing the most recent political scandals or policy ideas. He would laugh at the latest joke about a priest and a rabbi, or about a farmer's daughter. We would admire both his earnestness and his self-aware irony. And we would relate to the way he tried to balance, sometimes uneasily, the pursuit of reputation, wealth, earthly virtues, and spiritual values.Some who see the reflection of Franklin in the world today fret about a shallowness of soul and a spiritual complacency that seem to permeate a culture of materialism. They say that he teaches us how to live a practical and pecuniary life, but not an exalted existence. Others see the same reflection and admire the basic middle-class values and democratic sentiments that now seem under assault from elitists, radicals, reactionaries, and other bashers of the bourgeoisie. They regard Franklin as an exemplar of the personal character and civic virtue that are too often missing in modern America.Much of the admiration is warranted, and so too are some of the qualms. But the lessons from Franklin's life are more complex than those usually drawn by either his fans or his foes. Both sides too often confuse him with the striving pilgrim he portrayed in his autobiography. They mistake his genial moral maxims for the fundamental faiths that motivated his actions.His morality was built on a sincere belief in leading a virtuous life, serving the country he loved, and hoping to achieve salvation through good works. That led him to make the link between private virtue and civic virtue, and to suspect, based on the meager evidence he could muster about God's will, that these earthly virtues were linked to heavenly ones as well. As he put it in the motto for the library he founded, "To pour forth benefits for the common good is divine." In comparison to contemporaries such as Jonathan Edwards, who believed that men were sinners in the hands of an angry God and that salvation could come through grace alone, this outlook might seem somewhat complacent. In some ways it was, but it was also genuine.Whatever view one takes, it is useful to engage anew with Franklin, for in doing so we are grappling with a fundamental issue: How does one live a life that is useful, virtuous, worthy, moral, and spiritually meaningful? For that matter, which of these attributes is most important? These are questions just as vital for a self-satisfied age as they were for a revolutionary one.Copyright © 2003 by Walter Isaacson Read more

Features & Highlights

  • In this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of
  • Einstein
  • and
  • Steve Jobs
  • , shows how the most fascinating of America's founders helped define our national character.
  • Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin’s life from Boston to Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Walter Isaacson chronicles the adventures of the runaway apprentice who became, over the course of his eighty-four-year life, America’s best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious political leaders. He explores the wit behind
  • Poor Richard’s Almanac
  • and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation’s alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the compromises that created a near-perfect Constitution.In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin’s amazing life, showing how he helped to forge the American national identity and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century.

Customer Reviews

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Most Helpful Reviews

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An Engaging Portrait of Franklin as a Businessman, Scientist, and Diplomat

Other people have covered the details of the book well, so I will compare it to other popular biographies about the Founding​ Fathers written recently to give the reader an idea of what to expect. The trend in biographies lately seems to be elegant and almost novelistic prose. This book is written in a very different style: simple but not simplistic, accessible but not unintelligent. An unusual aspect is that rather than let one subject flow into another, the chapters are further separated into subheadings (e.g. "The American Philosophical Society", "Supplying General Braddock").

The author previously wrote a biography of Steve Jobs, and clearly has an interest in business. Much time is spent on Franklin's early years as a businessman, which I did not find as interesting as his politics. Much time is spent on British colonial economic policy, which I did find very interesting and informative. Additionally, it helped explain why the Tea Partiers were so violently opposed to the taxes and duties. The British government had enacted many policies to keep the colonies economically dependent on the mother country, such as outlawing ironworks in the colonies and suppressing manufacturing. I've read quite a few books about the Revolution and this was the most unexpectedly edifying on the motivations of the rebels in that aspect. This book justifies it's price on that subject alone. (Those uncomfortable with economics should know it was explained clearly enough that I could understand it well, despite having never taken an economics course.)

Additionally, Franklin finally gets his due as a world-class scientist in this biography. As a scientist myself, I wish more had gone into the process of his many discoveries, but it seems likely that there just wasn't enough source material to expand.

A note of criticism: in terms of psychological insight, the book leaves you a little bit wanting. His personal relationships with both men and women are notably detached and a little cold, but no real explanation is given for why this should be so for such an extroverted and warm man. The book quotes the opinion of other commentarors, such as conservative columnist David Brooks, quite a few times on the nature of his political beliefs. I would have preferred the authors own interpretations.

The description of Franklin's transition from a peacemaker who finds himself the target of anger from American rebels for being too inclined to seek compromise- to one of the most passionate voices for independence is elegantly done. When I finished the book I felt like I had real understanding of Franklin as a person full of contractions. A man who loathed conflict but supported a revolution, who wrote The Way to Wealth but was an ardent champion of the common man, who was the darling of the French Court but disliked aristocracy... In other words, a real person, not a cardboard cutout.
116 people found this helpful
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It is an excellent read but I settled on 4 stars because the ...

I debated about giving this 4 or 5 stars. It is an excellent read but I settled on 4 stars because the book, even though very well written and even though Franklin was probably the most gifted and the most influential of all the Founding Fathers, did not capture my interest as much as the biographies of Adams, Hamilton, Washington, or Madison. I have not been able to ascertain whether it is Mr. Isaacson’s style of writing or whether it is due to the fact that none of the Founding Fathers, at least as presented in the book, was as imperturbable as Franklin. The man that was presented in this book had total confidence in himself and was able to overcome, with almost blasé nonchalance, the many, many obstacles that he encountered. He was almost devoid of the emotional angst that so riveted the other Founding Fathers.

He was born into a laboring class family not a family of privilege as was Jefferson, Madison, and Washington. He did receive a basic education but for the most part he was self-taught. Despite his lack of education, he was able to develop a theory of electricity which allowed him to manufacture lightning rods for buildings. There were other inventions but this was the one that made him the idol of several Western countries, in particular, France.

He believed in self-reliance, yet at the same time he believed that individuals working together were much more effective in achieving objectives than one individual working alone. Hence, he founded numerous societies and organizations, such as the Philadelphia Fire Department, University of Pennsylvania, American Philosophical Society. All of these had as their objective the creation of a more just and merciful society.

He believed in frugality and yet he was quick to donate to charitable and patriotic causes.

He was probably the greatest diplomat that the United States ever produced. It is unlikely that the French would have given the fledgling U.S. as much aid as they did had not the French almost worshipped Franklin.

On the negative side, Franklin was not much of a husband. He left his common-law wife, Deborah, for decades while he lived in Europe and appears to have had numerous affairs in Deborah’s absence. (This trait probably further endeared him to the French.) Some of the blame for this situation can be placed on Deborah, for he pleaded with her to come with him to Europe but she refused to travel.

If he was not much of a husband, he was a much worse excuse of a parent. He disowned his illegitimate son, William (whom he and Deborah raised, mother never known) because William supported the Loyalist cause in the colonies. After the war, William struggled for a reconciliation with Benjamin, but Benjamin, even though he forgave almost everyone else who had Loyalist leanings, would have nothing to do with William except to try to prevent him from having any means of supporting himself and having any contact with William’s illegitimate son, Temple. Benjamin’s daughter, Sally, worshipped Benjamin and struggled to impress him, but he often met her pleadings with criticisms that she needed to do more.

In the book’s conclusion, the author, Isaacson, evaluates history’s view of Franklin. Over the centuries, it has oscillated between admiration bordering on idolization and abject disdain. Why disdain? Because Franklin represents the virtues of the middle class. To many, this is a boring life filled with trifles not a glorious existence of pursuing grand causes. To many his focus upon frugality, shows an emphasis upon the material world not the world of art or spirituality. I can only imagine Franklin’s answer to these criticisms. Life is filled with trivialities that must be performed. No person, no class of people is above performing these boring but essential activities. This is the most glorious cause of all, that we are all wiling to live on an equal plane with all others rather than one class being condemned to life’s repetitious necessities and another class being free of these shackles and being free to continually experience the euphoria of grandiose pursuits.
107 people found this helpful
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Another poorly done biography by Isaacson

Anyone who wants to understand Benjamin Franklin would be well served by reading Steven Johnson's book "The Invention of Air," which is mostly about Joseph Priestley but often mentions Franklin. The Johnson book does a fine job of showing that aspect of Franklin to which the disappointing Isaacson book gives short shrift: Franklin the scientist.

The Isaacson biography is also sorely disappointing because it is so... what? So pedestrian, so conventional, so obviously a poor rehashing of much better Franklin biographies that preceded this one. One wonders why Isaacson even bothered to write the book. Money, perhaps? Whatever his motivation, the result is poor.

I felt much the same about Isaacson's biography of another intriguing personage: Albert Enstein. In that book, Isaacson manages to fog up the science because the physics in question obviously overwhelms his ability to comprehend it, much less write about it.... although he tries anyway, to the dismay (and confusion) of the unfortunate reader.

But Isaacson, as any layperson, could understand the science that Franklin explored and was so important to in his era. Indeed, Franklin was primarily known during his time as a scientist, not a politician/statesman. And Isaacson fails to capture that in his book. Instead, we just get another humdrum biography apparently churned out for a buck. Too bad.

I do wish Isaacson would stop writing biographies---at least about those people I admire.
30 people found this helpful
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It should be entitled Ben Franklin Zombie, since all the life has been sucked out of this biography.

This is an excellent choice for a smart high school student, but a terrible one for a sophisticated adult reader. He glosses over or completely discounts Franklin’s romantic involvements. Isaacson makes interesting events bland, and substitutes facts for entertainment value. Very little of Franklin’s charm, wit or intelligence is communicated. Interesting anecdotes are few and far between. It should be entitled Ben Franklin Zombie, since all the life has been sucked out of this biography.
24 people found this helpful
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A Biography more than history..

In line with other historical books, I thought, I was buying a book on Benjamin Franklin, which would have good deal of historic and scientific perspective. Alas, I was dismayed on the fact that it was more of his personal life. What I mean by this is that the majority of the book focuses on his private life, his letters, his idiosyncrasies, his romance and his personal view of his life. I was expecting more information on the some greatest inventions and the details behind as to how he came about them, how he made it popular and how his inventions play a role in our life etc. This book merely mentions his inventions in a passing than going into any depth of it at all.
There is one chapter that spends a bit of time on his contributions to the constitution, but if one hears of Franklin for the very first time, then they would be wondering about the importance that he gained throughout history. (The last chapter -- Conclusions spend much time on what people thought of him).
I bought this book expecting one thing, more of history, more of science, more of his inventions and more of his political contributions and the background behind them, not his flirtations with French, English and other women.
Given my above review, if someone is wondering as to why I gave a 4 star, instead of 2 or 3 stars, the reason is simple. It probably is my mistake in expecting something out of a book, but the book gave a completely different set of details. But if you can relate to the living in 17th and 18th century, and care more about his personal life, this book is a treasure trove.
It is unfair for me to belittle the hard and best work Mr. Isaacson has put in describing the personal life of Mr. Franklin and to that point, he has done a fabulous job. That would truly deserve a 5 star rating for this book.
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Reasonable history but beware of Isaacson's bias

This was a reasonable chronolgy of Franklin's life and description of his character. My main objection to the book is Isaacson's negativity regarding John Adams. I believe John Adams is one of the most underappreciated of our Founding Fathers. Isaacson did not miss an opportunity to add a negative adjective when discussing anything regarding John. These slurs were uncalled for and did not add to the book, unless to justify various aspects of Franklin's actions and behaviors. With this intensely negative bias against John Adams, I wonder what other opinions Isaacson interjected that, upon hearing a different perspective, I would find inappropriate and incorrect.
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Uncle Ben

Many years back I endeavored to read a full-length biography on each of the Founding Fathers. For most, I had multiple options and several had undisputed “definitive” single volumes available, such as McCullough on Adams and Chernow on Hamilton. For Benjamin Franklin, Carl Van Doren’s 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winner was still considered the best, but I found it tedious and dry. Van Doren had somehow taken the most affable and relatable Founding Father and turned him into a moldy museum piece. The Washington Post was clearly taking an aim at Van Doren’s classic when, in a 2003 review of Isaacson’s “Benjamin Franklin,” they called it “the most readable full-length Franklin biography available.” I must wholeheartedly agree. Isaacson’s avuncular Franklin comes to life, bursting with humor and sagacity in equal measure.

Isaacson develops four themes in the life of Franklin; each is quintessentially American. First is an almost reflexive resistance to arbitrary authority. Beginning with the bucking of his printer apprenticeship to his older brother, James, in Boston in his teenage years and ending with his leadership in the American Revolution as an octogenarian, Franklin always bridled against heavy hands of authority. Almost from birth, Franklin retained what Isaacson calls an “inbred resistance to established authority.”

That is not to say that Franklin was a natural born revolutionary. Quite the contrary, according to Isaacson. To begin with, in addition to hostility to authority, Franklin also possessed an equally strong aversion to disorder and mob behavior. In the early 1760s, Franklin was “an enthusiastic and unabashed royalist,” Isaacson says, and prior to the 1770s remained “a proud and loyal Englishman, one who sought to strengthen his majesty’s empire rather than seek independence for the American colonies.” That loyalty was steadily eroded as the British tightened their grip on colonial life. It was, Isaacson writes, a steady collection of “personal slights, dashed hopes, betrayals, and the accretion of hostile British acts” that finally pushed Franklin into the rebel camp.

Second, Franklin maintained an unshakable belief in the value of merit, virtue, and hard work. He was his own best example of the good things that come to those who work hard and apply their talents to useful endeavors. The breadth of Franklin’s contribution is eye-popping. He developed significant improvements to such critical eighteenth-century devices as the heating stove and street lamps. He designed an entirely new musical instrument, the “armonica.” He organized the development of major institutions that still exist today, such as the University of Pennsylvania, the American Philosophical Society, and Pennsylvania Hospital. And, of course, as everyone knows he invented the lightning rod and bifocals. For all of his fame and myriad achievements in science, literature, and industry, Isaacson is quick to point out that Franklin’s ability was of a unique, yet almost quotidian variety. For instance, “Franklin would never develop into a rigorous, first-rank philosopher…he was more comfortable exploring practical thoughts and real-life situations.” Nor was he exactly a first-rate scientist. “Ingenious as he was,” Isaacson writes, “[Franklin] was no Galileo or Newton. He was a practical experimenter more than a systematic theorist.” Indeed, Isaacson concludes, “In science [Franklin] was more an Edison than a Newton, in literature more a Twain than a Shakespeare, in philosophy more a Dr. Johnson than a Bishop Berkeley, and in politics more a Burke than a Locke.”

Third, Franklin believed that one can best serve God by serving your fellow man. Thus, while he promoted “hard work, individual enterprise, frugality, and self-reliance” on the one hand, he also pushed for “civic cooperation, social compassion, and voluntary community improvement schemes,” on the other. Such “good works” were at the foundation of his spiritual life and self-identity. Raised in Puritan Boston and established in Quaker Philadelphia, Franklin nevertheless firmly believed “A virtuous heretic shall be saved before a wicked Christian.”

Finally, Franklin’s unique blend of intelligence, wit, compromise, and bonhomie made him, in Isaacson’s estimation, “the greatest American diplomat of all time.” He was “America’s first great image maker and public relations master.” No other American in the 1780s was more famous than Franklin and arguably no one understood all thirteen colonies better. Owing to his time in Boston and Philadelphia and his responsibilities as postmaster, Franklin was “one of the few to view America as a whole,” Isaacson writes. He was “the most traveled and least parochial of colonial leaders.” Likewise, he pursued a unique American foreign policy mixed realism and idealism, what Isaacson calls “the warp and woof of a resilient foreign policy.”

In closing, Franklin was – and in many ways still is – the personification of America: “Its cracker-barrel humor and wisdom; its technological ingenuity; its pluralistic tolerance; its ability to weave together individualism and community cooperation; its philosophical pragmatism; its celebration of meritocratic mobility; the idealistic streak ingrained in its foreign policy; and the Main Street virtues that serve as the foundation for its civic values.” Or as the great historian Frederick Jackson Turner put it in 1887: “[Franklin’s] life is the story of American common sense in its highest form applied to business, to politics, to science, to diplomacy, to religion, to philanthropy.”

It has been argued that Americans are either natural born haters or lovers of Franklin. I suspect that both Isaacson and I are the latter, and this is a biography for those in that happy camp.
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This the best bio of BF out there

I'm giving Walter Isaacson's biography five stars for its fairness, its comprehensiveness, accuracy, the incisiveness of its insights, but most of all, for its readability. I think this is what puts it above other Franklin biographies I've read - it somehow manages the feat of being a very engaging, pleasant read, from the first page to the last, while plumbing each interesting depth of Franklin's life.
In particular, I admired how Isaacson explored the nature of Franklin's religious belief, letting Franklin speak for himself on what he felt man's duty to God and his neighbor consisted of. I also appreciated the seriousness with which Isaacson dealt with Franklin's often underappreciated scientific achievements, clarifying just how beneficial the effects of his experiments with lightning and electricity were almost immediately (within a very short time, many lives were saved around the world just because of Franklin's lightning rod, etc.). Lastly, as readers of Franklin's autobiography know, he was very funny, and I was glad that Isaacson allowed that charm and humor to be displayed.
Edmund S. Morgan's recent biography of Franklin, for all its strengths, has to take second place to Isaacson's outstanding book. I know this review probably sounds like it was written by Walter Isaacson himself under a pseudonym or something, but the truth is, I can't really think of a single criticism to make of this one.
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Poorly Written

My review is intended primarily to provide this three star (September 3, 2011 revision: two star) book with another appropriate review. The book moves s...l...o...w...l...y. Further, it provides little evidence of original research but frequently relies upon other writers. In all, it seems to be the beneficiary of considerable grade inflation, perhaps from reviewers confusing the greatness of its subject with the quality of the book. For lengthier dissections of this book, I refer the reader to previous three and two star reviews, including the thoughtful review provided by FreeAtLast on August 13, 2003.

For recommendations for better books about Franklin, please see FreeAtLast and other three and two star reviews. And for excellent works regarding other aspects of the America Revolution I highly recommend "Paul Revere's Ride" by Fischer, Flexner's four volume biography of George Washington, "The Traitor and the Spy" (about Benedict Arnold and John Andre) by Flexner, and "The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas" by Buchanan.

Update (September 3, 2011): I just posted a review of Brands's biographly of Ben Franklin ("The First American"). That book is much better than Isaacson's in terms of readibility, reseach and strength of analysis. If you can, skip Isaacson's book and read Brands's.
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Disappointed

I didn't go very far with this book - it didn't make the cut. My impression is the author takes great and scandalous liberties in placing his own presumed motivations, evaluations and so forth over top of what Mr. Franklin actually said and did. It seemed like a small man talking frivolously about a big man, comfortable in the fact that the big man is dead. Time will be better spent elsewhere than reading this one.
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