Enjoyed this biography on Ben and ended up reading about 4/5ths. Got bored at the end when Isaacson is detailing his life in Paris. Seems important, especially considering he was America’s representative in securing important aid from the French to take on the Revolutionary War, but it was incredibly detailed in a way I no longer cared to read about – respectfully.
Some things I remember and that stood out:
- Amazing that he came from a family of 17 kids.
- He homed in becoming a writer and publisher by owning his own press, and the distribution, and was super successful at this. Largely considered America’s first writer if I recall the characterization correctly.
- Had a bunch of irons in the fire at all time, but generally seemed to be purposefully aimed in the direction of what I would just call ‘progress’.
- Free Mason
- Maybe like the first ‘technologist’ and ‘institutionalist’? Invented lot of interesting things that I would just consider to be in the tech category and first-of-its-kind institutions: flippers and fins for swimming, positive/negative charge discovery, attempted a new alphabet, lightning rod, new type of catheter and then the first public library, volunteer fire department, hospital, and daylight savings. Wild stuff.
- If there were ever a case for Generalist, Franklin would be it.
- Judging within the (not well understood) context of the time, Franklin seemed to care after his family less than maybe the average man. I mean, he was gone to Paris for roughly the last 10 years of his life and in that time his wife died. He didn’t go to his son’s wedding nor his daughter’s. Again, I bet this wasn’t even crazy for the time: maybe he was 20% less active in his family than normal, it’s just so insanely different from my life that is seems quite unimaginable.
- Then again, he was integral to the birth of a nation and I, so far, have not been.
- He didn’t want to split from England for most of his life. Until the end. He was a loyalist and wanted England to integrate America into its colonial system while still granting it a sense of independence and avoid overreach (mostly through taxation/religious freedom).
- Really interesting thought process around slavery. Seemed to waffle on it, and even to waffle seems to surely mean he was weird for his time
- Funny guy
- Should be credited with having the first ‘alt account’, i.e., he would drum up fake letter writers through his paper to argue different stances on issues in order to sell papers. Smart guy, and almost bot-like behavior. Very inventive and ahead of his time.
Unreal that we (Americans) come from people like Ben Franklin. These guys were so thoughtful and inventive. Incredibly respectable. I can’t help but feel some sadness when considering his life and those he held court/collaborated with unbelievable figures in history like Adam Smith, David Hume, and Voltaire and obviously the other great American figures like Washington, Adams, and Jefferson drafting the Declaration of Independence and other things.
What a life.