![]() ![]() Yet, all that said, Isaacson reminds us that Franklin essentially retired, wealthy and content, in his early 40s and devoted the rest of his days to doing acts of public good, pressing the cause of meritocracy in the service of “social mobility rather than an established elite” and furthering the cause of American independence at considerable risk to his property and person. ![]() That doesn’t mean to say that Franklin was a proto-Republican, but instead a practical-minded businessman who found much virtue in striking compromises, building consensus, and networking-and who pinched pennies with the best of them, adopting vegetarianism only so that the money saved on meat could go into his savings and studies. Nicely done life of “the most accomplished American of his age.”īenjamin Franklin may have been among the leading revolutionary firebrands of his time, but, suggests Aspen Institute president Isaacson ( Kissinger, 1992), he wouldn’t be at all out of place in an office park or perhaps Rotary Club meeting today. ![]()
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