What happens when a worldly 69-year-old celebrity scientist teams up with a reserved 43-year-old Virginia planter? You get the partnership that invented America.
Join host Michael Bahr as he explores Edward J. Larson's "Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership," revealing how two men who couldn't have been more different became the collaboration that saved the Revolution and shaped the Constitution. Franklin brought intellectual brilliance and diplomatic charm; Washington contributed moral authority and unshakeable resolve. Together, they complemented each other perfectly.
From the Second Continental Congress to the Constitutional Convention, this episode traces how personal trust and mutual respect overcame differences in background, temperament, and generation. Franklin secured French aid that kept Washington's army alive. Washington's presiding presence gave the Constitution legitimacy. Franklin's Great Compromise saved the proceedings when deadlock threatened to destroy the new nation.
In an era of partisan gridlock, their story reminds us that the most successful political movements are built on unlikely alliances between very different people willing to subordinate personal ambition to larger goals.
Next Episode: A Man of Iron - Grover Cleveland's principled presidency
#HistoryPodcast #FoundingFathers #BenjaminFranklin #GeorgeWashington #AmericanRevolution #Constitution
