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Ben Franklin

Benjamin Franklin
BenFranklinDuplessis.jpg
6th President of Pennsylvania
In office
October 18, 1785 – November 5, 1788
Vice President Charles Biddle
Peter Muhlenberg
David Redick
Preceded by John Dickinson
Succeeded by Thomas Mifflin
United States Minister to Sweden
In office
September 28, 1782 – April 3, 1783
Appointed by Congress of the Confederation
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Jonathan Russell
United States Minister to France
In office
September 14, 1778 – May 17, 1785
Serving with Arthur Lee, Silas Deane, John Adams
Appointed by Continental Congress
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Thomas Jefferson
1st United States Postmaster General
In office
July 26, 1775 – November 7, 1776
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Richard Bache
Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly
In office
May 1764 – October 1764
Preceded by Isaac Norris
Succeeded by Isaac Norris
Personal details
Born (1706-01-17)January 17, 1706
Boston, Massachusetts Bay, British America
Died April 17, 1790(1790-04-17) (aged 84)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Cause of death Pleurisy
Political party Independent
Spouse(s) Deborah Read
Children William
Francis
Sarah
Signature

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1705] – April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin was a renowned polymath and a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As an inventor, he is known for the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove, among other inventions. He facilitated many civic organizations, including Philadelphia's fire department and the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League institution.

Franklin earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity, initially as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies. As the first United States Ambassador to France, he exemplified the emerging American nation. Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment. In the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, "In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat." To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become."


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