Chronicles the founding father's life and his multiple careers as a shopkeeper, writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, business strategist, and political leader, while showing how his faith in the wisdom of the common citizen helped forge an American national identity based on the virtues of its middle class. Reprint. 150,000 first printing. Rescuing Franklin from the cliché of the genial codger, the bestselling author of KISSINGER celebrates the most advanced and earthy of the founding fathers in a riveting biography that brings Benjamin Franklin to life.
