Who’s your choice for the greatest all-around American leader? One of my top choices was born 305 years ago this month. He was never elected to a high office, yet his impact on American life was as profound and far-reaching as anyone could ever claim. On January 17, 1706, Benjamin Franklin came into the world he was to change in many ways.
If you were to ask people who the greatest American leaders have been, many would automatically respond with the names of presidents like Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and George Washington. Presidents are, after all, expected to provide leadership on many fronts. But they can’t provide effective leadership in a democratic context unless other leaders outside the political arena are doing their jobs well. Leaders in business, labor, education, religion, social affairs, diplomacy, and a host of other fields are crucial to the performance of society as a whole. And nobody I know of has influenced so many different areas of American life as Benjamin Franklin.
Almost every time he encountered a significant problem, he invented a solution and organized a human institution to deal with it. Printer, writer, scientist, inventor, social organizer, statesman, philanthropist, public servant, moralist, humorist, and diplomat, Franklin put his stamp on the American character in ways that still endure. Given his wide-ranging interest, he may have been more effective as a private citizen than he ever could have been as a president. Happy 305th birthday Ben, and thanks a lot.
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