The Greatest American: Benjamin Franklin, History’s Most Versatile Genius

Was Benjamin Franklin an indispensable public servant or a cunning chameleon? A hard-headed entrepreneur or an opportunistic privateer? A devoted family man or a notorious womanizer? A scientist and inventor or a hoaxer and self promoter? A believer or a heretic? The first civilized American or the most dangerous man in America?

In The Greatest American, Dr. Mark Skousen—“America’s Economist” and a direct descendant of the old man—reveals many new features and little-known facts about Ben Franklin, such as:

– Why Franklin was a free trader: “No nation was ever ruined by trade.”
– The surprising benefits of inflation to pay for the American Revolution.
– How the War of Independence transformed him from a religious heretic to a believing theist.
– Why he hated party politics.
– How he changed his mind about slavery and became a devote abolitionist.
– The truth about his love affairs with women. Did he really abandon his wife Deborah, or did she abandon him?
– Why he never applied for any patents for his famous inventions.
– Why George Washington loved Franklin and John Adams despised him.
– Why he turned against his beloved son, William, and never forgave him.
– His preference for private welfare and charities rather than state-run social programs and welfare.