Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership

Pepperdine University history professor Larson (To the Edges of the Earth) offers a lean and accessible dual biography of “the two indispensable authors of American independence”: Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. He traces their “close bond” to the French and Indian War, when they served as colonels in the Pennsylvania and Virginia militias, respectively, and met to discuss securing the frontier against hostile forces. According to Larson, “despite the war’s ultimate outcome,” both men learned that “the British were beatable in New World combat.” Dispatched to London in 1757 to represent Pennsylvania’s interests to Parliament, Franklin spent 15 of the next 17 years abroad, while Washington took on a “rising role” in Virginia’s House of Burgesses. Larson disputes the “simplistic” notion that Franklin and Washington were “reluctant revolutionaries” at the Second Continental Congress in 1775, and chronicles their complementary roles during the Revolutionary War and their collaboration on the Constitution. He contends that their only significant difference of opinion was over the issue of slavery. Though Larson draws on correspondence between his subjects, the book suffers somewhat from a lack of drama and intimacy—Washington and Franklin were only in the same place a handful of times. Nevertheless, colonial history buffs will appreciate this focused perspective on how the two founding fathers worked together. [em](Feb.) [/em]