What I learned from reading Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership by Edward Larson.
At the time, Franklin and Washington were two of the most admired individuals in the United States and the most famous Americans in the world.
Their final letters to each other represented a fitting end to a three decade long partnership that, more than any other pairing, would forge the american nation.
Their relationship began during the French and Indian War, when Franklin supplied the wagons for British General Braddock's ill fated assault on Fort Duquesne, and Washington buried that general's body under the dirt road traveled by those retreating wagons.
Both had warned Braddock against this attack.
Their friendship continued through the American Revolution, the constitutional convention, and the establishment of the new federal government.
Perhaps because of the differences in their background, age, manner, and public image, their relationship was not widely commented on then, and it remains little discussed today, but it existed and helped to shape the course of american history.
Both men have been called the first American, but they were friends first and never rivals.
Their relationship gained historical significance during the American Revolution, when Franklin led American's diplomatic mission in Europe and Washington commanded the Continental army.
Victory required both of these efforts to succeed, and their success required coordination and cooperation.
Their successful collaboration during the revolution helped to found a nation and propel a global experiment.
Leadership at this level is a rare quality and well worth study.
That was an excerpt from the book I'm going to talk to you about today, which is Franklin and Washington, the founding partnership, and it was written by Edward J.
Larsen.
I was not expecting to do this book.
I was actually walking through a bookstore the other day, and the COVID caught my eye.
And I have done several podcasts on Ben Franklin.
I did his autobiography, back on Founders number 62, and then Isaacson's fantastic biography of Franklin, back on Founders 115.
And even though I've read those two books on Franklin, I never thought about the partnership that he had with George Washington.
So this book is a dual biography, focuses on the 30 year friendship that Franklin and Washington had and how their lives intersected around three historical events, which is the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and then the creation and the founding of a brand new government and nation.
So I want to jump right into the beginning.