Happy 304th Birthday to the First American

By Ron Harris

Journalist.  Scientist.  Diplomat.  Bon vivant.  Guru for the ages.

Our “First American,” founding grandfather Benjamin Franklin, would mark his 304th birthday this coming Sunday, Jan. 17, had he not succumbed to nature’s fickle demands and died at the age of 84 on April 17, 1790 – an extraordinary tenure for those times, but fitting for such an extraordinary man.

Historian H. W. Brands titled his Pulitzer-finalist 2002 book “The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin,” and explained that iconic label in a PBS panel discussion shortly after the book’s publication:

 “I use the term in three senses,” Brands said.  “One is that in his lifetime he was the most illustrious American, he was the best-known American of his day. Secondly, he began a model for the American character. He was practical. He was self-reliant, self-educated, unimpressed with wealth and title, optimistic, he had a sense of humor, and he was a great enthusiast of civic virtue. And thirdly, I see him really as the first to have a real sense of an American identity separate from that of Englishmen.”

I was thinking the other day what Wise Ol’ Ben would think about our republic today if he were alive to comment.  I can picture him being interviewed by, say, a NY Times reporter, doing a piece for the Sunday edition.  The interview might go something like this, with the reporter’s questions mine and Ben’s answers the actual statements and/or writings of The First American:

Times reporter:  “Mr. Franklin, you’ve certainly seen a lot in your 304 years.  You helped give birth to a nation and have seen it in good times and grim.  What is your overall opinion of where America has been and where it’s going?”

BF:  “All mankind is divided into three classes – those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.  Never confuse motion with action. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch; liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”

Times:  “So I get from those words that you’re reasonably pleased with America today, even with our current economic situation?  Do you believe the government’s ‘stimulus’ package has worked?”

BF:  “When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.  They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.”

Times:  “You are considered a wise man and a tutor for the ages, yet you speak primarily in parables and bromides.  Can today’s Americans assume you believe they have a right to government assistance?”

BF:  “The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness; you have to catch it yourself.  This will be the best security for maintaining our liberties – a nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved.  It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins.”

Times:  “Are you saying that the public was ‘ignorant’ in electing President Obama and a top-heavy Democratic Congress?”

BF:  “Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.  Where liberty dwells, there is my country.  A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.”

Times:  “What is your personal opinion of President Obama?”

BF:  “A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.  A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.”

Times:  “How about Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House?  How do you feel about her?”

BF:  “To find out a girl’s faults, praise her to her girl friends.  Applause waits on success.”

Times:  “Around 1730, when you were in your late 20s, you listed 13 virtues as an important guide for living. These virtues were temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility.   Do you feel those are still important to and for today’s Americans?”

BF:  “A frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty and keep a government free.”

Times:  “A lot of Americans, particularly on the left, are quite unhappy with this nation’s direction and have been for many years.  And they are increasingly unhappy with President Obama because they feel he has ‘betrayed’ them.  Your thoughts?”

BF:  “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, and most fools do.  Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.”

Times reporter (sighing):  “I’ll close this interview by merely saying ‘Happy Birthday’ and, incidentally, as a scribe and printer, what is your opinion of the present Mainstream Media and, particularly, the New York Times?”

BF:  “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.”

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Historian H. W. Brands titled his Pulitzer-finalist 2002 book “The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin,” and explained that iconic label in a PBS panel discussion shortly after the book’s publication:

 “I use the term in three senses,” Brands said.  “One is that in his lifetime he was the most illustrious American, he was the best-known American of his day. Secondly, he began a model for the American character. He was practical. He was self-reliant, self-educated, unimpressed with wealth and title, optimistic, he had a sense of humor, and he was a great enthusiast of civic virtue. And thirdly, I see him really as the first to have a real sense of an American identity separate from that of Englishmen.”

I was thinking the other day what Wise Ol’ Ben would think about our republic today if he were alive to comment.  I can picture him being interviewed by, say, a NY Times reporter, doing a piece for the Sunday edition.  The interview might go something like this, with the reporter’s questions mine and Ben’s answers the actual statements and/or writings of The First American:

Times reporter:  “Mr. Franklin, you’ve certainly seen a lot in your 304 years.  You helped give birth to a nation and have seen it in good times and grim.  What is your overall opinion of where America has been and where it’s going?”

BF:  “All mankind is divided into three classes – those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.  Never confuse motion with action. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch; liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”

Times:  “So I get from those words that you’re reasonably pleased with America today, even with our current economic situation?  Do you believe the government’s ‘stimulus’ package has worked?”

BF:  “When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.  They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.”

Times:  “You are considered a wise man and a tutor for the ages, yet you speak primarily in parables and bromides.  Can today’s Americans assume you believe they have a right to government assistance?”

BF:  “The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness; you have to catch it yourself.  This will be the best security for maintaining our liberties – a nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved.  It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins.”

Times:  “Are you saying that the public was ‘ignorant’ in electing President Obama and a top-heavy Democratic Congress?”

BF:  “Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.  Where liberty dwells, there is my country.  A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.”

Times:  “What is your personal opinion of President Obama?”

BF:  “A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.  A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.”

Times:  “How about Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House?  How do you feel about her?”

BF:  “To find out a girl’s faults, praise her to her girl friends.  Applause waits on success.”

Times:  “Around 1730, when you were in your late 20s, you listed 13 virtues as an important guide for living. These virtues were temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility.   Do you feel those are still important to and for today’s Americans?”

BF:  “A frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty and keep a government free.”

Times:  “A lot of Americans, particularly on the left, are quite unhappy with this nation’s direction and have been for many years.  And they are increasingly unhappy with President Obama because they feel he has ‘betrayed’ them.  Your thoughts?”

BF:  “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, and most fools do.  Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.”

Times reporter (sighing):  “I’ll close this interview by merely saying ‘Happy Birthday’ and, incidentally, as a scribe and printer, what is your opinion of the present Mainstream Media and, particularly, the New York Times?”

BF:  “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.”

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