Walter Isaacson's Benjamin Franklin, An American Life

Some people truly live life to the fullest. Many such individuals’ lives are not recorded for posterity. But those that are can serve as a shining beacon for the rest of us, an example of not only how to live, but how to live well. One such individual was certainly Benjamin Franklin. Entrepreneur, inventor, social protagonist, statesman, and so much more. The list of Franklin’s accomplishments goes on and on.

Of late, it has become fashionable to examine once again the lives of America’s founding fathers. John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson have all undergone scrutiny in various works by various authors. Perhaps the most popular figure, however, has been Benjamin Franklin, and I can think of no better work to obtain not only an understanding but indeed a veritable feel for the man than Walter Isaacson’s Benjamin Franklin: An American Life.

It is inevitable that any author will have a bias when approaching an historical topic or figure. Isaacson’s is overwhelmingly positive. That said, his portrait is balanced and accurate overall, and he does not shy away from showing us Franklin’s faults right alongside his strengths.

Franklin may have been most notably associated with Philadelphia, but he was actually born in Boston, moving to Philadelphia as a young boy. There he established his famous printing business, where Poor Richard’s Almanac was born. The Almanac was a wealth of information and wisdom, some of it Franklin’s, some of it not. Many of his quotes remain in common use even today.

Franklin was also a social progressive. To be sure, he believed in the virtues of hard work and the notion that each individual was responsible for his own upkeep. Yet he was also a firm believer in community, and established libraries, insurance companies, fire departments, and helped raise funds for the common good during the revolution. He greatly improved the colonial postal system, too.

Franklin was a famous inventor during his day, and he had a keen mind for science and its practical applications. We’re all familiar with his famous experiment with a key, a kite, and lightning. But did you know it led to his invention of the lightning rod, a boon that has saved many a structure from burning after a lightning strike.

But it may well be in the realm of diplomacy that Franklin should be best remembered by Americans. He was an active participant in the shaping of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He served as an ambassador to France, and won crucial support there for the fledgling United States in their battle to be free of British rule.

Indeed, those who criticize France for its disagreement with America over the Iraq war lack historical perspective. While it is true that America came to France’s aid against Germany, France had come to America’s long before that during the Revolutionary War. Without French intervention, we likely would have lost the conflict. And without Franklin, who was very highly regarded in Paris, there might not have been French intervention.

Isaacson shows us, however, that despite all that he accomplished in his life, Franklin had flaws. He was not a family man for the most part. He spent much of his life apart from his wife and children in England and in France. He may have been something of a womanizer, though his flirtations were often on a purely intellectual level.

At times, Isaacson waxes comical, not surprising since Franklin’s wit was as prodigious as his intellect. Still, there are times when Franklin is humorous indeed without intending to be so. At one point, he was attempting to simplify the English language through the invention of a phonetic alphabet. Isaacson reports it as follows:

”Kansider Chis alphabet, and giv me instanses af syts Inlis uyrds and saunds az iu mee hink kannat perfektlyi bi eksprest byi it,” went one of his more comprehensible sentences.

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life is a fascinating read, but its also an entertaining one. The author’s prose flows across the page and is a delight to read. He encompasses so many facets of Franklin’s life that he not only enlightens us as to the man, but also the time in which he lived. We learn a lot about what it must have been like to live in the colonial and revolutionary period.

Isaacson also weaves in other important figures of the day, including John Adams, Cotton Mather, Jefferson, Washington, and others. That is, of course, to be expected in a biography where the interaction between historical figures is inevitable. Nonetheless, Isaacson pulls off the feat admirably. There is a section of portraits and images at mid-book as well.

At just under 500 pages, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life is not a book you’ll likely polish off in a day or two. But it is worth the time invested. Benjamin Franklin was an extraordinary man who led an extraordinary life. He has had an impact on most or our lives already. Reading Isaacson’s biography will only make that impact greater.