"Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership" Topic

"George Washington and Early Republic scholar Edward J. Larson (author of The Return of George Washington: Uniting the States, 1783-1789 and A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign) has produced a new work focusing on the partnership of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. Although Washington's other working relationships have received ample coverage (Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance That Forged America by Stephen F. Knott and Tony Williams and The Great Divide: The Conflict Between Washington and Jefferson That Defined America, Then and Now by Thomas Fleming), his connection with Franklin was the oldest one among the Founders. Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership not only details how the two men had worked together for three decades, but it also offers biographical narratives of both.

Larson's latest effort is divided into three sections. The first section, "Book I: Converging Lives," traces the early lives of Franklin and Washington. Whereas Franklin's enterprising spirit brought him out of servitude in Boston and Philadelphia and made him a successful businessman, Washington (twenty-six years Franklin's junior) was growing up in the Virginia wilderness, finding his way as a surveyor and struggling to become a "gentleman farmer." They first met each other at the start of the French and Indian War, and their early contact was a preview into how their relationship would function during the major events of the 1760s through 1789. Franklin was the idealist who based his worldview concerning a need for a united colonial front on the pragmatic observations of the young commander in the field, Washington. The contact was brief since Franklin left for London in 1757 and Washington left the front to get married and add more land to the Mount Vernon estate. There was no belief from either that they would work together again until the mid-1760s:.."

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Amicalement
Armand

Washington and Franklin were the two indispensable men of the Revolution.

Don't forget Jefferson and Hamilton.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Enjoyed Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance That Forged America by Stephen F. Knott and Tony Williams very much. Outstanding!

Jefferson never served, and 'deserted' his post as governor with the British invasion of 1780.

Hamilton was a junior artillery officer in 1776, became one of Washington's ADCs, and at Yorktown commanded the light infantry assault that took Redoubt Number 10.

Neither Jefferson nor Hamilton made the contributions to victory that Washington and Franklin did.

Thanks!.

Amicalement
Armand