Franklin's miracle was that, armed only with his canny personal charm and assisted by his international reputation as a scientist and philosopher, he was able to cajole a wary French government into lending the fledgling American nation an enormous fortune. Not only did Franklin help seal the French alliance with a formal treaty in 1778 and keep it alive throughout the war; he was instrumental, as well, in negotiating the peace with Britain. By the time Franklin sailed back to Philadelphia in 1785, he had proved himself "the most indispensable leader of the American Revolution next to George Washington," says Dull. [author of A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution]

The enduring image of Franklin in Paris tends to be that of a flirtatious old man, too busy visiting the city's fashionable salons to pursue affairs of state as rigorously as John Adams.

The French consistently asked the Continental Congress to retain Franklin as America's chief spokesman.

Franklin was an amazing man. I wish that today's liberals were more like him.

Merrie, that's two of my favourite heros you've clipped! Benjamin Franklin (imho) was the best of the Founding Fathers. His experiments with lightening were awesome!

A philosopher and scientist, I wish that Bush would be more like him. You've got the right hero in Franklin, silly, but the wrong antagonist.