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Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

by Walter Isaacson

3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 · rating details · 20,739 ratings · 782 reviews

Benjamin Franklin is the Founding Father who winks at us. An ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings, he seems made of flesh rather than of marble. In bestselling author Walter Isaacson's vivid and witty full-scale biography, we discover why Franklin seems to turn to us from history's stage with eyes...more Benjamin Franklin is the Founding Father who winks at us. An ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings, he seems made of flesh rather than of marble. In bestselling author Walter Isaacson's vivid and witty full-scale biography, we discover why Franklin seems to turn to us from history's stage with eyes that twinkle from behind his new-fangled spectacles. By bringing Franklin to life, Isaacson shows how he helped to define both his own time and ours.

He was, during his 84-year 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 sought practical ways to make stoves less smoky and commonwealths less corrupt. He organized neighborhood constabularies and international alliances, local lending libraries and national legislatures. He combined two types of lenses to create bifocals and two concepts of representation to foster the nation's federal compromise. He was the only man who shaped all the founding documents of America: the Albany Plan of Union, the Declaration of Independence, the treaty of alliance with France, the peace treaty with England, and the Constitution. And he helped invent America's unique style of homespun humor, democratic values, and philosophical pragmatism.

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.

Through it all, he trusted the hearts and minds of his fellow "leather-aprons" more than he did those of any inbred elite. He saw middle-class values as a source of social strength, not as something to be derided. His guiding principle was a "dislike of everything that tended to debase the spirit of the common people." Few of his fellow founders felt this comfort with democracy so fully, and none so intuitively.

In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin's amazing life, from his days as a runaway printer to his triumphs as a statesman, scientist, and Founding Father. He chronicles Franklin's tumultuous relationship with his illegitimate son and grandson, his practical marriage, and his flirtations with the ladies of Paris. He also shows how Franklin helped to create the American character and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century.

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Paperback, 608 pages

Published June 1st 2004 by Simon & Schuster (first published 2003)

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Jul 22, 2013 Chrissie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Chrissie by: Laura

Shelves: bio, history, usa, audible, 2013challenge, leaders

ETA: I decided to change this to four stars since I enjoyed the author's Einstein even more, and I gave that four.

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Why do YOU want to pick up a book about Benjamin Franklin? If you want his biographical details you need not even read a book, just check out Wikipedia. I wanted more. I wanted to understand his soul. I wanted to get under his skin. I wanted all the historical details in Wikipedia and more. I got what I wanted. Benjamin was an amazing person; people have only a...more

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Jan 02, 2008 Dylan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-history, the-american-revolution

If Alexander Hamilton is one of the most underappreciated of the Founders then Benjamin Franklin is one of the most misunderstood. Isaacson ends his book with a concluding chapter that details this misundestanding. Throughout history each generation has taken a new look at Benjamin Franklin. As the author points out, Thoreau mocked him, Carnegie adored him and D.H. Lawrence despised him. So who was right, and why?

Isaacson, while pointing out his faults and follies, does not hide his own admirat...more If Alexander Hamilton is one of the most underappreciated of the Founders then Benjamin Franklin is one of the most misunderstood. Isaacson ends his book with a concluding chapter that details this misundestanding. Throughout history each generation has taken a new look at Benjamin Franklin. As the author points out, Thoreau mocked him, Carnegie adored him and D.H. Lawrence despised him. So who was right, and why?

Isaacson, while pointing out his faults and follies, does not hide his own admiration for Franklin. An interesting historical test is to consider that Franklin's style and personal life often overshadow his professional accomplishments and civic contributions. Because he lived apart from his wife, flirted with women, wrote about the science of farts and beget an illigitimate child the general public has ignored his historical importance. Rather than donning the frills and wigs of Paris, a trap Jefferson quickly fell into, Franklin purposefully wore plain suits, no wig and often times his famous fur hat. A man who set trends without trying, one of Franklin's greatest gifts was the ability to accomplish great things without anyone else realizing it.

His feigned naivite, strategic avoidance of conflict and simple appearance made him the perfect man to discover electricity and promote the lightning rod; propose a union of the colonies in 1759; negotiate for the repeal of the Stamp Act; carve out a treaty with and multiple loans from France; negotiate peace with Britain; champion the Connecticut compromise for a bi-cameral legislature, one with representation based on population, the other with equal representation frome each state; and propose the complete abolition of slavery.

Isaacson makes clear, and he is quite convincing, that while Franklin had his faults, he was revered in his own time, accomplished as much or more than any other Founder, and deserves to be considerd as one of America's most historically important statesman. Franklin's personal creed was that doing good things for others was the ultimate form of religion. In life and in death (in his will he set up a trust fund for young tradesman in Philadelphia and Boston) he practiced his religion dutifully. A religion that we in America would do well to retrieve. (less)

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Dec 15, 2012 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: American History Buffs

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: The Ultimate Reading List - Biography

Shelves: biography, history, non-fiction, science, ultimate-reading-list

This was a pleasure and just the kind of biography I find trustworthy. The kind that acknowledges other views and controversies and with extensive notes and sources in the back. More than that, it's the rare biography that can inspire smiles and even giggles--I'd mark this up to five stars if I could credit Isaacson for that--but the source of the humor is the frequent quotes from Benjamin Franklin himself. Isaacson said in his introduction that "Benjamin Franklin is the Founding Father who wink...more

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Jul 11, 2013 Jason Koivu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, history, non-fiction

An excellent start-to-finish biography, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life begins by touching on his childhood as best as it can considering the lack of material to work with. After that, Isaacson takes the reader through a more detailed account of Franklin's early entrepreneurial life, through his many inventions, and into his later statesmen days. I was struck by the author's well-balanced hand for both time, achievements, personal and professional details, and philosophical and political ide...more

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Aug 13, 2008 Margaretann rated it 4 of 5 stars

Went to the King Tut exhibit in 2007 and was equally impressed by the Ben Franklin museum - where the exhibit was shown in PA. Loved this book; learned so much - maybe I'm a nerd but it was a page turner that I looked forward to each day!

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Jan 08, 2012 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: us-history, xx-2010-xx, favorites

I loved this book. Isaacson did a fair and balanced job, describing the man without whitewashing over his flaws. By the end, I felt like Franklin was mine, like he somehow belonged to me. I knew he would be an interesting person, but I had no idea how much this man did with his life. Nor did I understand just how involved he was before there was any US at all. We could still be a British colony without him - or even a French one! Something else I never learned in school, France's involvement.

Th...more

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Aug 01, 2008 Kevin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ben Franklin is one of the most misunderstood of the Founding Fathers, no doubt because his personality could often be so hard to pin down (Franklin often employed satire and misdirection in his arguments and created fictional characters to voice his opinions). Our image of him now is something like a wizened old favorite uncle, always ready with a wink and nudge and a humorous aphorism.

Franklin's place in history has been much more contentious, however. His revolutionary fervor was questioned b...more

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Jul 07, 2008 Suzanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, american-history

This is a throroughly entertaining, well-researched, well-written biography of Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson. It is lengthy (over 600 pages) and one feels obligated to read the footnotes because they further the work. The first third of the book moved quickly (childhood, moving to Philadelphia, beginning life as a printer, Poor Richard's Almanac). The middle third bogs down (life in England and France, the beginning of the Revolution) and the final third picks up (back in France, negotiat...more This is a throroughly entertaining, well-researched, well-written biography of Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson. It is lengthy (over 600 pages) and one feels obligated to read the footnotes because they further the work. The first third of the book moved quickly (childhood, moving to Philadelphia, beginning life as a printer, Poor Richard's Almanac). The middle third bogs down (life in England and France, the beginning of the Revolution) and the final third picks up (back in France, negotiating the peace etc)
I realized while reading this that I had many preconceptions based on rumor regarding Franklin. Yes he was flirt and loved women, but there was only one illegitimate child (not the rumored hundreds) and he (William Franklin) became the Governor of New Jersey. Franklin's wife Deborah (with whom he had 2 children, Sally and a son who died as a child) was "common-law" because she had been abandoned by her husband who disappeared to the Carribean. Divorce was illegal and without a death certificate, she could not remarry. It appears that he loved her but she would not travel with him and never left Philadelphia. So he went alone, and often stayed away for years. Sadly, despite her wish for him to return, he was in Europe for the last 15 years of her life. ???? Hard to fathom.
On a political level much of what our country is can be attributed to Franklin's vision and support of a middle class. Jefferson, who founded the University of Virginia, believed that the role of education was to train the future leaders of the world by handpicking the best and brightest, and giving them the best education. Franklin totally disagreed believing that educational opportunities needed to be available to all, and based his founding of the University of Pennsylvania on those principles. Meritocracy, hard work, frugality...were beliefs he espoused throughout his life.
Isaacson has a great writing style. He is less dry than David McCullough and Joseph Ellis, but not quite up to Doris Kearns Goodwin in flow. Not a quick read, but really enjoyable. (less)

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Feb 08, 2008 Nate Cooley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-highly-recommend

Probably the best biographical source on Benjamin Franklin is straight fron the horses mouth . . . his Autobiography. However, Isaacson's book is definitely an engaging read and fairly exhaustive.

My initial impression is that the author is careful in not falling into the a trap that so many biographers often do, in that they deify their protagonist. Isaacson takes an objective approach to Franklin and enumerates his many flaws (or at least what most would perceive as flaws when attributed to on...more

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Jan 26, 2008 Dan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoy providing background in my reviews of how I’ve acquired or read a book, because I believe it helps to paint a picture of my tastes, desires, and it might even give you more information about me. In other words, maybe the books I read act as my own autobiography. I bought this highly anticipated book only a short time after getting a new job as a store manager with FranklinCovey. Having made good friends with the store manager of the Waldenbooks store down the hall from my old store, I sp...more

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Mar 27, 2008 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Americans, scientists, business people, history buffs

Shelves: biography

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 28, 2009 Benny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-history

One of my heroes has always been Ben Franklin. Issacson's treatment of him here is an honest account of his many great triumphs and successes, while not shying away from his many faults and foibles. Frankiln was a deep and complex character and this book does a good job of exploring the many facets of that character.

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Feb 25, 2008 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Walter Isaacson has a way of making non-fiction read like fiction. His research seems very thorough. He catches the essence of this great man that I think of as a grandfather figure, not a politician (ironic as his family life appeared to be a failure). I delighted in the way he 'handled' the French - acting the simple, back-country hayseed with his marten fur cap.....they never saw him coming.

I learned much about the man from this book and did not realize that he was the master inventor and obs...more

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Kirk Mark,

I read about half of this, I'm not a big fan of BF. Yes, he was a bright guy, did a lot with the regard to the early development of our democracy...more
Feb 26, 2008 08:13am

Mark You're right, but I don't remember Isaacson sugar coating it (ie my comment above about his family life). I understand where you're coming from, but I...more
Feb 26, 2008 10:17am

Kirk Speaking of the French, I just read a book that Mom recommended, it was very good, "The Arrogance of the French: Why they can't stand us-and why the f...more
Feb 26, 2008 12:17pm

Oct 03, 2013 Mark Robertson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read Franklin's autobiography years ago and remember it as being entertaining if somewhat self-serving. Isaacson paints a portrait of an extremely talented and complicated man whose curiosity and practicality helped bring about significant progress in both science and government. For all of the praise that Isaacson rightly accords Franklin, he also provides evidence of some less favorable attributes, particularly regarding the way he managed some of his personal relationships.

Franklin lived i...more

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Aug 23, 2013 ***Dave Hill rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: text, audiobook, non-fiction

A pleasant, entertaining, informative look at Franklin. Isaacson gives us a fairly detailed accounting of his life, if with some odd gaps (Franklin's religious views, for example, only come under discussion very late in his life), but with a deep appreciation for Franklin's faults and virtues -- in particular his serving as the prototype for American middle-class values. The book details how he was affected by history, and how he in turn affected it -- his values were often pragmatic, save for a...more

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Jun 20, 2013 Christopher rated it 4 of 5 stars

Benjamin Franklin exists as a man of many layers. In Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, Walter Isaacson deconstructs some of of the myth surrounding the man who Isaacson says “Invented America”. You’ll remember Walter Isaacson as the man who showed Vegas-like timing by publishing his biography of Steve Jobs almost at the moment of Jobs’ death. Isaacson has also written biographies of Albert Einstein and Henry Kissinger. But Franklin is an entirely different animal.

As Isaacson says in the book’...more Benjamin Franklin exists as a man of many layers. In Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, Walter Isaacson deconstructs some of of the myth surrounding the man who Isaacson says “Invented America”. You’ll remember Walter Isaacson as the man who showed Vegas-like timing by publishing his biography of Steve Jobs almost at the moment of Jobs’ death. Isaacson has also written biographies of Albert Einstein and Henry Kissinger. But Franklin is an entirely different animal.

As Isaacson says in the book’s opening chapter, “Franklin is the founding father who winks at us. [He] 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 oro-tund [sic] rhetoric but with a chattiness and clever irony that is very contemporary, sometimes unnervingly so. We see his reflection in our own time.” We Franklin’s journey from his earliest days in Boston to his rise as printer, public citizen, scientist, and inventor in Philadelphia. Throughout the way Isaacson cleverly dispatches with the fables and focuses the reader on the facts. The later in Franklin’s life we get the easier it becomes to separate fact from fiction.

The book does bog down during Franklin’s time in Europe. Perhaps this lull is more of a result of Franklin’s actions than Isaacson’s prose. Franklin leaves America in 1765 and only returns for the momentous year of 1776 before leaving again for the next decade thus missing a great deal of the action and drama on this side of the Atlantic. Franklin does manage to be present for all four of the big founding documents in American history: the Declaration of Independence, the treaty with France, the peace accord with Britain, and the Constitution.

While Isaacson paints a realistic and multifaceted portrait of his subject, he has an irritating habit of caricaturing the books supporting players. Franklin’s erstwhile son, William, gets treated as a petulant man-child with no respect for his father’s supposed greatness nor opinions of his own. Most irritating of all is Isaacson’s treatment of founding father John Adams. Adams comes across here as a petty, back-biting, puritanical, douche. A man concerned only with his own advancement who never stopped trying to bring Franklin down and was motivated only by his own pure jealousy. But these complaints are superficial and only slightly distract from the narrative as a whole. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life is a delightfully easy summer read. I highly recommend it.(less)

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Dec 23, 2012 Jun rated it 5 of 5 stars

See my blog for full review: http://liketoread.wordpress.com/2012/...

I am thoroughly convinced that no matter whose biography I read, I will love it as long Walter Isaacson wrote it (see link below for other reviews relating to Walter Isaacson).

By reading this book, Benjamin Franklin (BF) has become one of my favorite historical figures. BF has to be one of the most well-rounded and accomplished person I’ve come across. Everything from his humble background to becoming a successful entrepreneur,...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Jerome rated it 3 of 5 stars

Biographies generally bore me, and this was no exception.

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 underwhelming.

One of the difficulties with biography is that you already know most of the plot, and you probably know how it ends too. To create a sense of suspense and excitement, you need to need to do two...more Biographies generally bore me, and this was no exception.

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 underwhelming.

One of the difficulties with biography is that you already know most of the plot, and you probably know how it ends too. To create a sense of suspense and excitement, you need to need to do two things. First, you need to construct a "plot" that is more than just a chain of events - you need to turn this life into some kind of story. Second, you need to add enough originality and insight to give the reader something they hadn't thought of before - a new twist on a familiar tale.

Isaacson does neither. He follows Franklin from cradle to grave, covering his life with reasonable thoroughness, some attention to alternative sources and points of view, and with excellent command of English grammar and vocabulary. For this he is to be commended - his experience as a successful journalist shows. However, he has not managed to create anything that pulls the reader a long - neither the "what next" plot nor the "what will he tell me next" insights.

The fault of the book, then, is its subject, but how Isaacson writes about him. Its chief fault is the lack of narrative flair: With the notable exception of the first and last chapters, we have a chronological account broken into small sections. Here's one particularly mundane succession: "Constitutional Ideas" (a mere 2 pages)," "Meeting Lord Howe Again (5 pages)," "To France, with Temple and Benny (4 pages)." A more satisfying approach would have traced Franklin's domestic political thought in one larger chapter, but this would violate Isaakson's chronological imperative. At times the book's equally weighted, well-ordered facts yield a pace that is both plodding and boring. The book is best when it manages to integrate larger themes with the strictly biographical details.(less)

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Jun 21, 2012 Chad Warner rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone interested in Benjamin Franklin or the founding of America

Shelves: non-fiction

This thoroughly researched biography takes a close look at Benjamin Franklin’s life, particularly exploring his personality and beliefs. It starts with his English ancestors, follows his parents’ emigration to America, then chronicles his life until his death. I enjoyed reading the stories behind his many maxims. The book provides insight into colonial life before, during, and after the American Revolution. It highlights Franklin’s achievements and lasting influence on America.

I had considered m...more This thoroughly researched biography takes a close look at Benjamin Franklin’s life, particularly exploring his personality and beliefs. It starts with his English ancestors, follows his parents’ emigration to America, then chronicles his life until his death. I enjoyed reading the stories behind his many maxims. The book provides insight into colonial life before, during, and after the American Revolution. It highlights Franklin’s achievements and lasting influence on America.

I had considered myself a Franklin fan, and I learned more that I like about him, but I also unexpectedly learned even more that soured my view of him. I admire his work ethic, frugality, innovation, self-improvement, entrepreneurship, business sense, negotiating abilities, and rational decision-making. However, although he was personable and a great networker, his relationships were generally shallow, and he was a distant and generally unloving husband and father.

I also disagree with Franklin’s religious views. He abandoned Calvinism for Deism, then created his own brand of Deism based on good works. He believed in God, but only as a benevolent but distant deity who was best served by helping others. He believed that religion was really only useful for making people behave and improving society, and that all religions were valid. He always stressed the material over the spiritual.

Franklin’s motto could have been “Do well by doing good.” He showed that one could attract wealth by being in the business of serving others. He said that he’d rather “live usefully” than “die rich.” He warned against welfare, and supported trickle-down economics. Franklin retired from business at 42, the midpoint of his life, but he arguably accomplished more in the second half. In fact, he was 69 at the signing of the Declaration of Independence!

Franklin was a master diplomat; he knew how to negotiate for mutual benefit, which is why he quickly became involved in politics, then moved from the local to the international level. He used the Socratic method (non-confrontational questioning) to influence people. He also said that a secret to being more revered than resented is to be self-deprecating and unpretentious, which he practiced throughout his life.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Benjamin Franklin or the founding of America. I also recommend Franklin's autobiography, or the modern adaptation (my review).(less)

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May 06, 2012 Carl Brush rated it 4 of 5 stars

Walter Isaacson’s 2003 Ben Franklin An American Life makes a wonderful complement to the 1938 Pulitzer Prize winning Benjamin Franklin by Carl Van Doren. Van Doren’s book is dense and exhaustive and admiring of both the man and his work. Isaacson is thorough as well, but more readable, and more critical, especially of Franklin’s personal life. It’s been several years since I read the Van Doren book, and I don’t plan to go back for a point-by-point analysis, but if you want to read just one, I’d...more Walter Isaacson’s 2003 Ben Franklin An American Life makes a wonderful complement to the 1938 Pulitzer Prize winning Benjamin Franklin by Carl Van Doren. Van Doren’s book is dense and exhaustive and admiring of both the man and his work. Isaacson is thorough as well, but more readable, and more critical, especially of Franklin’s personal life. It’s been several years since I read the Van Doren book, and I don’t plan to go back for a point-by-point analysis, but if you want to read just one, I’d say go for Walter.
Pretty much everyone knows something about Franklin’s Horatio Alger beginnings and about his role as a signer of the Declaration of Independence and framer of the Constitution. Folks connect his name with Poor Richard and the Almanac, the Franklin Stove, the lightning rod, and bifocals. Many fewer, probably, know of his business acumen, how he turned one small Philadelphia print shop into a multi-colonial string of franchises that enabled him to retire at age forty-two (1747) to pursue projects of scientific and community betterment.
He used his “leisure” time to lead the world in the discovery and use of electricity, invent a musical instrument (the Armonica) which became enough of an orchestral standby to warrant compositions by Beethoven and Mozart, correspond with scientists and philosophers worldwide on a huge range of subjects, write the constitution of Pennsylvania, organize fire departments, raise and lead a militia, and organize a postal service that achieved a twenty-four hour turnaround on letters between New York and Philadelphia. All this before the revolution was even a glimmer in Samuel Adams’ eye.
So, why would a man of so many talents and obviously superior intellect be labeled “bourgeois”? Because he was the quintessential Rotarian. He never worked alone. Practically everything he did involved an organization of some sort, usually an organization he founded. Isaacson focuses on Franklin as the community do-gooder. He was neither a Newton nor a Voltaire, would never have invented Calculus or delved deeply into the nature of God. Instead, he loved to gather data and put it to use; and religion was fine as long as it was used to make for better lives and helped people to be kind to one another. You can find his calculations of the speed and patterns of the Gulf Stream Currents on the NASA website. He called his collection of Leyden jars to store electricity a “battery”, and we still use the word. The terms “positive” and “negative” for electrical poles are his invention. All very interesting knowledge and theory, he would say, now let’s put it to use. Let’s cook a turkey (he did) with electrical current, or fashion a pointed metal rod to keep lightning from destroying your house. He never patented anything, preferring to make his inventions available to the widest possible array of the population. This isn’t even a smidgen of the whole picture. If you wanted to think about it or philosophize about it, talk to someone else. If you want to use it to improve your life, talk to Franklin.
The same went for his advice as for his inventions. Nearly all Poor Richard’s aphorisms (many of them reworked from other sources) are pragmatic hints for getting along in the here and now--”He’s a fool that makes his doctor his heir;” “necessity never mad a good bargain;” “diligence is the mother of good luck;” “no gains without pains;” “there’s a time to wink as well as to see.” There’s little of the spiritual or abstract. This is the part of Franklin the world knows best and that draws the fire of romantics and theorists who want grand ideas and passions from him instead of the concrete stuff of the daily grind.
And in many ways, Franklin was indeed short on grand and intimate passion and guilty of neglecting familial ties. He acknowledged and cared for his illegitimate son, but was never close to him. In fact, rejected William savagely when he refused to join the revolution. He had an affectionate forty-nine-year marriage (common law because there was no concrete evidence of the death of Deborah’s disappeared husband). But he spent fifteen of the last seventeen years of that marriage abroad and made no effort to get home after she had a stroke and took nearly a year to die. He was more affectionate to some members of the surrogate family he gathered around him in England than to his flesh-and-blood American relatives. He attended the wedding of neither his natural son nor daughter, but made great pains to attend the wedding of his English landlady’s daughter. He engaged in numerous flirtations that seemed never to be consummated, always conducting them with a humorous irony that avoided closing that last intimate gap. He was a rationalist who never opened his heart all the way.
In addition, he never till the end of his life came to terms with slavery. He owned slaves most of his adult life even though he was friends with abolitionists. By the time he became committed to abolition, he was too old to employ any of his acumen to doing anything about it. It seemed that, like his family, it was an issue that he wanted to keep at arm’s length because it stirred emotions that were too intense or unresolveable.
Thus, his family never got out of this giant of the age of reason the closeness or affection they wanted. Two possible exceptions: First--Grandson Temple, the illegitimate son of his own illegitimate son, William, the one from whom he became so bitterly estranged. But you could argue that BF indulged Temple to the extent that he spoiled the boy, and he never made good use of his grandfather’s largesse. Second exception--Great-grandson Benjy, Temple’s illegitimate son, whom Franklin set up in the printing business and who made a good name for himself at his great-grandfather’s trade. Outside the family, however, Franklin was a great master at bettering lives and societies wherever he went, and not just with his clever inventions.
Not many of us know in any detail his feats as a statesman. His years in Paris are legendary for how he took society by storm. Less known is the decade he spent in London trying hard via America’s English sympathizers to keep the bridges between America and England from burning. He was one of the last to sign on for the revolution, up to and beyond the last minute hoping and working for ways to keep the colonies in the Empire. He endured a terrible drubbing in House of Commons in 1775 over the proper relationship of colonies to masters. Once the war began, however, there was no greater zealot.
He became Congress’ first ambassador to France at age seventy. As celebrated and accomplished as his life had been to that point, his most monumental achievements occurred when he was an old man.
His work in France was far more than social, though it probably couldn’t have been accomplished without the celebrity he cultivated. The 1778 treaties of alliance and commerce were masterpieces of diplomacy and saved America’s bacon without a doubt. After Yorktown, the final peace treaties could not have been completed without his ameliorating influence over the bellicose tantrums of John Adams and the hard-as-nails obdurance of John Jay. And finally, at the age of eighty-three, fully twice the median age of the other members of the Constitutional Convention, he more than any other individual, made possible the compromises that resulted in our governing document. By changing his own positions to help resolve several conflicts (He fought hard for a unicameral legislature, for example) and by persuading others that rigidity was the enemy of a working republic, he became the model for the document the convention eventually shaped. In the concluding address of the final session, he said, “I consent. . . to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best.“ Not a ringing sales endorsement, but emblematic of the attitude many of us in this strident, opinionated age would do well to copy. We humans can never be as certain as we’d like to be that we’re right.
All of this history Isaacson relates in a lively prose that keeps one’s nose between the pages long after curfew. Clever phrasing such as “the back-channel fandango” (describing some of the maneuvering going on during the negotiations at the end of the War) keep the drama moving without trivializing the gravity of the events. His descriptions of Franklin as the original image-maker and spinmeister are as entertaining as BF himself must have been. They make you want to sit in one of those London or Philadelphia coffee houses, warmed by a Franklin Stove, sipping Madeira, watching the old man read a treatise or article through his bifocals and commenting with one of his parables. It’s a delicious read that makes a legendary figure as down-home and familiar as any neighborhood storyteller.(less)

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May 02, 2012 Joe rated it 5 of 5 stars

Isaacson is getting a lot of attention and reading right now for his Steve Jobs biography and there is some symmetry in his biography of Franklin, surely the Steve Jobs of his day, (a comparison favorable to Jobs, for sure.)

Isaacson does a great job in placing Franklin in his startling historical context. Ben Franklin is old! He is so old when he was born we even reckoned time by a different calendar - the Julian instead of the Gregorian. He was a contemporary of such old-timey Puritan giants as...more Isaacson is getting a lot of attention and reading right now for his Steve Jobs biography and there is some symmetry in his biography of Franklin, surely the Steve Jobs of his day, (a comparison favorable to Jobs, for sure.)

Isaacson does a great job in placing Franklin in his startling historical context. Ben Franklin is old! He is so old when he was born we even reckoned time by a different calendar - the Julian instead of the Gregorian. He was a contemporary of such old-timey Puritan giants as Cotton and Increase Mather! The Salem Witch Trials had occurred a mere 14 years before his birth. (Witchburning as as recent past for him almost what Beatlemania was for me...) The America in which he came of age was a truly different place than what it was for men like Washington and Adams. Thomas Jefferson was young enough to have been his grandson!

Isaacson does a great job in bringing this almost exotic American to life and enumerates his many unique accomplishments and contributions to American and world culture. I cannot do justice to it here, but Isaacson explains how many of Franklin's scientific accomplishments (he coined the term "battery" for electrical storage and also came up with "positive" and "negative" charges as concepts) remain impressive and even crucial to today's scientific understandings.

Isaacson also demystifies much of the lore of Ben Franklin's sexual reputations: he was no saint, but nowhere near the libertine his enemies made him out to be. His advance age and serious gout would have kept him from the kind of shenanigans he is famous for in France.

Isaacson also give space to Franklin's constantly evolving spiritual understanding. He was certainly no orthodox Christian by any understanding, but neither did he die as the Deist he was famous for being in his younger days.

Isaacson concludes with a gripping essay on Franklin's importance to American and even world history. There are perhaps none as versatile and as wide accomplished as Franklin in the annals of any nation.(less)

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Mar 03, 2012 Dave Comerford rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm trying to learn about the USA. Walter Isaacson makes a strong case that Franklin embodies many of the qualities that are associated with America - industry, tolerance, pragmatism, down-home charm, enlightened self-interest and proud of its bourgeois values. Now that I'm done I find it hard to imagine that a history of the United States would as much fun as this biography of Franklin. After all, he did, according to a Parisienne admirer, combine 'the kindest heart with the soundest moral teac...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Jeremy Perron rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

To say that Benjamin Franklin led an interesting life would be the understatement of the century. Dr. Franklin was the first American to be world famous. He was an American Revolutionary, a theorist on government, a scientist in nearly all fields, and a printer being his first profession. In the end, one can say that there is nothing that the man did not do in his lifetime. Walter Isaacson brings this extraordinary American to life, allowing the reader to explore the world that was with this inc...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Kelley Ridings rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reading this biography really helps me appreicate what a huge impact Benjamin Franklin had, not only in America but also worldwide. Just as a scientist alone he had a huge impact on the way we live. Unfortunately, he isn't recognized as much for his scientific contributions today because what he discovered is commonplace knowledge. Yet he was a superstar celebrity of his age becuase of his great knowledge and contributions to the field of science. [Discovery that lightening was really electricty...more Reading this biography really helps me appreicate what a huge impact Benjamin Franklin had, not only in America but also worldwide. Just as a scientist alone he had a huge impact on the way we live. Unfortunately, he isn't recognized as much for his scientific contributions today because what he discovered is commonplace knowledge. Yet he was a superstar celebrity of his age becuase of his great knowledge and contributions to the field of science. [Discovery that lightening was really electricty, which led him to advocate that lightening rods be places on building, which prevented them from burning down in lightening strikes. Invention of bifocals. Studied chimney's and how they operated, which improved how they got rid of soot so that soot didn't innundate the inside of a building. Studies of the gulf stream which led to greatly lessening the amound of time to travel across the Atlantic Ocean. Invention of bifocal lenses.] In addition, he was a leading statesman of his age. He was the only man to sign the four major American documents of his era (the Declaration of Independence, the signing of the treaty allying the United States with France in the American Revolution, the Peace Treaty with Great Britain in 1783, and the US Constitution). All this and here was a man who started his life with very little, had very little formal education, and had to work hard by learning a field (printing) in order to eventually create a successful career. He wasn't perfect though. His family life was distant. Essentially abadoning his common law wife to go to Great Britain and France to serve his country during most of the last 17 years of her life. He had a deeply contentious relationship with his illegitimate son, who ended up on the opposite side of the Revolutionary Cause. Yet, in spite of his flaws, he still was a man who accomplished great things, and he was revered by many of the greatest people of his age. Next to George Washington, he was the most famous men of their times. (less)

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Aug 14, 2011 Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars

A satisfying read. The life of BF is remarkable and interesting, and well chronicled by Isaacson. If he had stayed retired at 42 after giving up his printing business, we would still be famous today: author of poor Richard's Almanac, founder of the University of Pennsylvania, creator of public libraries, first major promoter of volunteerism and community service, and an advocate of (moral sponsor for) an industrious and prosperous middle class. But he accomplished even more it the next 40 years...more

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Aug 08, 2011 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the only biography that I've read on Franklin, but I suspect it may be one of the best researched and best balanced. I always suspected that Franklin was a much more complex man than the person taught to us in history class some 50+ years ago, and Isaacson does not fail in exploring the many facets of the "most famous American." All aspects of Franklin's life, journeyman, printer, scientist, social engineer & philosopher, revolutionary, diplomat, and more are thoughtfully explored. W...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Catherine Woodman added it

My MIL lent me this book, and I really enjoyed it, despite reading it en route to my FIL demise. The book is especially strong in the first half, leading up to the story of the Revolutionary War and what happens afterward. Franklin's life as the youngest son of a youngest son, of a youngest son--the one's who absolutely must go out in the world because there is nothing left for them at home, is a good one for insight into the breeding of diplomatic skills--leadership from behind, so to speak. He...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Robert J. Sullivan rated it 4 of 5 stars

My wife and I occasionally invite historical figures to imaginary dinner parties and Ben Franklin is one we both agree on. After reading Isaacson's biography, I see no reason to change my mind. The list of his positive attributes would have to include practical, tolerant, curious, funny, charming, and inventive. His inventions, discoveries, innovations, and foundations include the nature of electricity, the lighting rod, bifocals, lending libraries, and fire companies, among others, leaves a leg...more My wife and I occasionally invite historical figures to imaginary dinner parties and Ben Franklin is one we both agree on. After reading Isaacson's biography, I see no reason to change my mind. The list of his positive attributes would have to include practical, tolerant, curious, funny, charming, and inventive. His inventions, discoveries, innovations, and foundations include the nature of electricity, the lighting rod, bifocals, lending libraries, and fire companies, among others, leaves a legacy that few could approach and whose benefits still exist today. He was a strong supporter of democracy and the middle class.

Numerous people have attacked Franklin as a Babbitt, only interested in money, with no higher thought than his own gain. Isaacson defends Franklin effectively as a man who retired quite comfortably at age 42 and devoted himself to public service, often times donating his salary to good causes. If he failed to devote himself to some Higher Cause and didn't spend his time searching for Eternal Truths, perhaps we are all better off. His spirit of compromise, asking the delegates to the Constitutional Convention that produced the United States to give up the idea that each one alone possessed Truth, gave us a government that has lasted over 200 years.

Isaacson explores the makeshift families that Franklin set up wherever he want and that he seemed to prefer to his real family. This is an area I wasn't aware of in the inventor's life. He defends him against those that think he was a major player with women; I don't have enough data to speak for one side or another. I had heard that Ben was a member of the Hellfire Club when he was in England. There's no mention of that in the book.

The author mentions that Franklin goes in and out of fashion and serves as a test, not of the man, but of those that judge him and their times.

It is currently fashionable in some quarters to hold that the rich are the only ones who produce anything good and the rest of us are worthless parasites. This is explicit in the works of Ayn Rand and implicit in the 'don't tax the rich, we need them' policies found in many states and Washington. The defenders of the middle class, the workers and artisans, are few, half-hearted, and apologetic. I think we could use Ben back to defend them.

An interesting man, a fascinating and formative time in the history of the US and the world, this book is well worth your time. 4 stars

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Aug 07, 2010 nitin rated it 5 of 5 stars

I cannot write enough good things about this book or Benjamin Franklin. This book is highly readable, exceptionally well written, and an authoritative straight-forward biography of the highest quality.

Franklin is a fascinating person whose life spanned being a printer, inventor, entrepreneur, politician, diplomat, community organizer, self-help coach, teacher, philosopher, comedian, and scientist. The breadth and success of his activities is inspiring. Clearly, reading and understanding the life...more

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May 25, 2010 Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life is bar-none the best biography I have ever read.

Walter Isaacson takes us on a journey with Benjamin Franklin from the cradle to the grave, through decades and generations of scientifically and personal achievements, setbacks and misfortunes.

The book itself is easy to read, told through chronological glimpses at Benjamin Franklin's life rather than working towards an overall swiping grand achievement, a mistake, I believe, which is done by many biographers.
T...more

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About Walter Isaacson

Walter Isaacson lives in Washington, DC, where he is the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. He is the author of acclaimed, best-selling biographies of Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and Henry Kissinger.

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“Another time, he was playing [chess] with his equal, the Duchess of Bourbon, who made a move that inadvertently exposed her king. Ignoring the rules of the game, he promptly captured it. "Ah," said the duchess, "we do not take Kings so." Replied Franklin in a famous quip: "We do in America.” — 1 person liked it

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