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Article: 'Be always employed in something useful'; The United States was Ben Franklin's most ambitious project.(FEATURES)(BOOKS)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- July 3, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Terry W. Hartle
Most Americans think of Benjamin Franklin as a Founding Father who was also a printer, a ladies' man, a writer of maxims, and an inventor who was lucky he didn't kill himself when - or if - he flew his kite in a thunderstorm. But, as Walter Isaacson shows us in this compelling new biography, Franklin was a far more complex and interesting man who was absolutely central to the success of the American Revolution.
Franklin was born in Boston and was apprenticed to his older brother James. But he soon chafed under his brother's authority and ran away to Philadelphia, where he established himself as an exceptionally hardworking and ...