With the observances of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution now underway, this is a perfect time to reconsider Benjamin Franklin, the most audacious and unpredictable of the Founding Fathers.
Economist Mark Skousen, an eighth-generation direct descendant of Franklin, authored “The Greatest American: The Genius of Benjamin Franklin” as a user-friendly guide to the Colonial era’s most intriguing celebrity. Indeed, calling Franklin a “celebrity” is the easiest way to classify him, as Skousen points out Franklin enjoyed prominence in 22 different careers.