Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership

Description

"Larson's elegantly written dual biography reveals that the partnership of Franklin and Washington was indispensable to the success of the Revolution." -Gordon S. Wood From the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian comes a masterful, first-of-its-kind dual biography of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, illuminating their partnership's enduring importance. NATIONAL BESTSELLER * One of Washington Post's "10 Books to Read in February" * One of USA Today's "Must-Read Books" of Winter 2020 * One of Publishers Weekly's "Top Ten" Spring 2020 Memoirs/Biographies Theirs was a three-decade-long bond that, more than any other pairing, would forge the United States. Vastly different men, Benjamin Franklin-an abolitionist freethinker from the urban north-and George Washington-a slavehold ing general from the agrarian south-were the indispensable authors of American independence and the two key partners in the attempt to craft a more perfect union at the Constitutional Convention, held in Franklin's Philadelphia and presided over by Washington. And yet their teamwork has been little remarked upon in the centuries since. Illuminating Franklin and Washington's relationship with striking new detail and energy, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson shows that theirs was truly an intimate working friendship that amplified the talents of each for collective advancement of the American project. After long sup porting British rule, both Franklin and Washington became key early proponents of inde pendence. Their friendship gained historical significance during the American Revolution, when Franklin led America's diplomatic mission in Europe (securing money and an alliance with France) and Washington commanded the Continental Army. Victory required both of these efforts to succeed, and success, in turn, required their mutual coordination and cooperation. In the 1780s, the two sought to strengthen the union, leading to the framing and ratification of the Constitution, the founding document that bears their stamp. Franklin and Washington-the two most revered figures in the early republic-staked their lives and fortunes on the American experiment in liberty and were committed to its preservation. Today the United States is the world's great super power, and yet we also wrestle with the government Franklin and Washington created more than two centuries ago-the power of the executive branch, the principle of checks and balances, the electoral college-as well as the wounds of their compromise over slavery. Now, as the founding institutions appear under new stress, it is time to understand their origins through the fresh lens of Larson's Franklin & Washington, a major addition to the literature of the founding era.

Edward J. Larson is University Professor of history and holds the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University. He received the Pulitzer Prize in History for Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion. His other books include A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign. From 2013 to 2014, Larson was an inaugural Library Fellow at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington located on the grounds of Mount Vernon. He lives in Georgia and California.

"In 1790, John Adams joked that the history of the Revolution would eventually boil down to Washington and Franklin doing pretty much everything. This was not as much of a joke as Adams imagined: Edward J. Larson's elegantly written dual biography reveals that the partnership of Franklin and Washington was indispensable to the success of the Revolution." - Gordon S. Wood, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History and the Bancroft Prize, and author of Revolutionary Characters and Empire of Liberty "Franklin & Washington does ample justice to its subjects' achievements. ... Larson lays down a pairing that has hitherto been neglected. Few would quibble with Mr. Larson's verdict that George Washington and Benjamin Franklin rank as the pre-eminent Founders: Without the former's determined leadership of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and the latter's assiduous cultivation of the French support that ultimately secured victory, there would be no United States." - Stephen Brumwell, Wall Street Journal "Essential reading. ... Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Larson writes a dual biography of two founding fathers, shedding light on a special partnership and decades-long bond that made America possible." - USA Today, "A Best Book of 2020 so far" "America has always been a team project, and its Founding co-captains are Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. But until now, curiously, there has not been a joint biography worthy of these two great Captains America. Edward J. Larson finally delivers just what we need: a crisp narrative crackling with great stories and deep insights. Equally fun and wise-a rare combination-Franklin & Washington is an indispensable book about our two indispensable Founding Fathers." - Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University, and author of America's Constitution: A Biography "Larson brings together the lives of these titans, showing how their backgrounds and joint interests made them ideal partners. ... An inspired approach for considering the lives and legacies of these two founding fathers." - Booklist, STARRED Review "Laudabl[e]. ... A leadership study showing how two different personalities can forge a partnership. ... Well-written and interesting. ... Great leadership teams generally are not composed of people with matching personalities. ... As Larson shows, Franklin and Washington brought two different sets of traits." - Walter Isaacson, Washington Post "Larson presents a concise yet engaging narrative that illuminates how individuals can have as much impact on events as broader societal or economic forces." - USA Today "Excellent." - Valdosta Daily Times