Ben Franklin

It’s crunch time for U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Tomorrow the registered voters of Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island will either close the door on Ms. Clinton’s attempt to move back into the White House by denying her one or more major victories, or allow her to convince herself, her husband, and [...]

As we in the U.S. continue to winnow the field of prospective presidential candidates through primaries and caucuses, I am once again reminded of a bit of personal philosophy uttered by perhaps our country’s most famous founder not to become president.
The following declarations, or “Plan of Conduct,” by Ben Franklin, [...]

Benjamin Franklin was largely apolitical during the first half of his life, focusing his curiosity, intelligence and energies on business and self-improvement. The second half found Franklin as involved in politics as anyone before or since.
For several decades now, young Americans seem to have been following suit. Voter turnout among 18 to 30 [...]

Benjamin Franklin was among the most widely read writers and publishers in the 18th century.
He was also a very sly and creative entrepreneurial type, not above a bit of marketing sleight-of-hand.
This posting isn’t about Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his alleged dalliances with Ms. Christine Beatty, or the magic of Catalog Choice. These just happen to [...]

The following comes from a letter written on March 9, 1790 by Ben Franklin to Ezra Stiles, a Congregational minister and president of Yale College, responding to specific questions by Stiles regarding Franklin’s “opinion concerning Jesus of Nazareth” (written when sick at 86 years old — Franklin died a few weeks later on 4/17/90):
“As to [...]