"ON BENJAMIN FRANKLIN" Episode 5: Legacy

Podcast: ON CRISPR (ON BENJAMIN FRANKLIN season)
Host: Evan Ratliff
Guest: Walter Isaacson
Date: October 3, 2024

Overview: Exploring Franklin’s Enduring Legacy

In the final episode of ON BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, renowned biographer Walter Isaacson examines the lasting legacy of Benjamin Franklin, focusing on his profound influence on America's national character. Isaacson and Ratliff discuss Franklin’s multifaceted life—as a scientist, writer, businessman, diplomat, and founding father—and the ways his humility, pragmatism, and moral evolution shaped both the nation’s foundational principles and its ongoing journey. Central to the discussion are Franklin’s roles at the Constitutional Convention, his late-life advocacy for abolition, and his belief in progress through compromise, self-improvement, and religious tolerance.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Franklin’s Identity and Humility in Death

Timestamp 02:45–04:10

• Franklin signed documents “B. Franklin, Printer,” emphasizing his “leather apron” roots and connection to America’s working class.
• He once joked about an elaborate epitaph, but settled on a plain tombstone: “Benjamin and Deborah Franklin.”
  Quote:
  “It would just be a plain tombstone with the inscription Benjamin and Deborah Franklin.” – Walter Isaacson (03:58)

2. Role in the Constitutional Convention: Architect and Calmer

Timestamp 05:14–10:07

• During the Constitutional Convention, Franklin, already elderly, played a key calming and moderating role—often literally transported by chair due to gout.

• He proposed many guiding ideas, such as federal government structure (from his Albany Plan).
  Quote:
  “What they end up at the Constitutional Convention is something that Franklin had pretty much proposed 30 years earlier, which is a federal convention system of government.” – Walter Isaacson (06:26)

• He often approached disagreements with humor and sought practical, calming metaphors, even carrying a cane with a vial of oil to demonstrate how "calming roiled waters" works.
  Quote:
  “For him, that became a metaphor at the Constitutional Convention... he played that role he had played his whole life—trying to temper people’s passions, calm things down.” – Walter Isaacson (09:11)

3. On Compromise and Humility as Civic Virtue

Timestamp 10:07–13:20

• Franklin advocated accepting the Constitution despite imperfections, seeing progress as incremental and achievable only through compromise.
• Compared jointing a wooden table (“take a little from one side... until you had a joint that would hold together for centuries") as a metaphor for political compromise.

Quote:
“He ends up proposing the compromise... gets the balance just right. He gave a speech: ‘For having lived long, I’ve experienced many instances of being obliged to change my opinion on important subjects, which I thought I was right, but found out otherwise.’” – Walter Isaacson (11:30)

• Humility and willingness to be wrong: “Let’s all compromise and see if we can agree on things.”

4. Self-Restraint and Peaceful Transfer of Power

Timestamp 12:56–14:23

• Franklin consciously removed himself from presidential consideration, recognizing age and importance of peaceful power transfer—echoed in Washington’s later example.
• This sets a democratic precedent, echoed in later politics.

Quote:
“The notion of voluntarily forsaking power is at the heart of what a democracy is, a peaceful transfer of power and people who are in it not for themselves and for power, but for the democracy itself.” – Walter Isaacson (13:42)

5. Moral Evolution: From Complicity to Abolition

Timestamp 19:24–23:54

• Franklin maintained a “ledger of errors” in his life, making good on past misdeeds, culminating in late-life abolitionism.
• He took practical steps—presiding over abolitionist societies, advocating for education and integration of freed slaves.

Quote:
“The last great errata, more than an errata, a moral deep lapse, was tolerating slavery. …he takes over the Society for the abolition of slavery and says, not only do we have to abolish slavery, we have to have all sorts of actions that will bring freed slaves into the educated and working mainstream of our middle class.” – Walter Isaacson (20:06)

• His final published work, under a pseudonym, was a biting hoax to lampoon pro-slavery arguments.

On Late Moral Change:

• Franklin acknowledged slow progress, evolving on issues through practical experience (like witnessing the abilities of Black schoolchildren).
• He viewed self-improvement as a lifelong quest, paralleling the nation’s growth.

Quote:
“One of the beauties of Benjamin Franklin is that he’s part of the moral arc of America. He’s continually improving as we are as a nation, and usually a slight bit ahead.” – Walter Isaacson (23:29)

6. Community, Practicality, and Democracy from the Ground Up

Timestamp 24:26–26:22

• Franklin believed lasting democracy comes from local engagement—organizing firehouses, education, street cleaning—as models for national politics.
• Practical problem-solving, not ideological posturing, as the American way.

Quote:
“Politics would work best from the ground up. When you start with, as he put it, little things like keeping the streets swept, you see why we all have to work together at the community level.” – Walter Isaacson (24:53)

• He argued for public education and community services, seeing them as benefitting all.

On safeguarding democracy:
“He did resist pure populism… he realized it was up to each one of us… to have both a celebration of democracy, but also the civic attributes… that would help protect it from populist or… authoritarian or aristocratic excesses.” – Walter Isaacson (26:22)

7. Franklin’s Pragmatic Optimism and Personal Attachment

Timestamp 27:43–38:19

• In contrast to dogmatism or hero worship, Franklin constantly revised his worldview through experimentation and open-mindedness.
• Isaacson connects with Franklin's anti-dogmatic, journalistic temperament, admiring Franklin’s transition from observer to actor on the civic stage.

Quote (on journalism and public engagement):
“I understood Franklin’s evolution from being a humorous, wry, Poor Richard’s Almanac writing observer of the foibles of the elite to being somebody who then went into politics and statecraft.” – Walter Isaacson (39:14)

8. Relevance, Reception, and the Pendulum of Values

Timestamp 35:26–42:18

• Even the most partisan or passionate modern figures (Elon Musk) find something to connect with in Franklin.
• Franklin’s “middle class values” (industry, honesty, civic-mindedness) are sometimes dismissed as mundane but underpin the stability of democracy.
• Past eras (the Romantics) found Franklin dull, but such values grow vital in times of democratic stress.

Quote:
“These are not lowly mundane values. These are fundamental values to keeping a democracy on an even keel.” – Walter Isaacson (42:10)

9. Religious Tolerance as an American Gift

Timestamp 42:18–45:27

• Franklin, though not devout, promoted and practiced broad religious tolerance: donating to every religious building in Philadelphia, supporting even the first synagogue.
• Tolerance considered one of America’s fundamental—and revolutionary—gifts.

Quote:
“The concept of good natured religious tolerance was actually no small advance for civilization back then in the 18th century. It was the greatest of contributions to arise not only from the enlightenment, but from the founding of America, the nation, not as a tribe, but as out of many one, e pluribus unum.” – Walter Isaacson (44:13)

10. Modern Parallels and Lessons

Timestamp 45:27–end

• The episode closes with a reflection that Franklin’s work—building unity, compromise, and tolerance—remains unfinished and cyclically necessary.
• Isaacson suggests today’s divisions might be healed by reviving Franklin’s civic ethos at the community level.
• Franklin’s funeral—a unifying, interfaith event—symbolizes the aspirational inclusivity of America.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On humility and compromise:
  • “You should be willing to say, I might be wrong on these things. I might have some humility. Let's all compromise and see if we can agree on things.” – Walter Isaacson (11:50)
• On peaceful transition of power:
  • “The notion of voluntarily forsaking power is at the heart of what a democracy is.” (13:42)
• On evolving beliefs and self-improvement:
  • “He’s continually improving as we are as a nation, and usually a slight bit ahead.” (23:29)
• On importance of community:
  • “Politics would work best from the ground up.” (24:49)
• On religious tolerance:
  • “The concept of good-natured religious tolerance was actually no small advance for civilization back then in the 18th century. It was the greatest of contributions to arise…” (44:14)

Episode Structure and Timestamps

• Franklin’s personal legacy and humility in death (02:45–04:10)
• Role in the Constitutional Convention (05:14–10:07)
• Views on compromise and the imperfect Constitution (10:07–13:20)
• Voluntary stepping aside for the greater good (12:56–14:23)
• Franklin’s turn toward abolitionism and moral change (19:24–23:54)
• Community-building and American civic ethic (24:26–26:22)
• Populism, democracy, and moderation (26:22–27:43)
• Franklin’s personality, dogmatism, and optimism (27:43–38:19)
• Franklin’s reputation, relevance, and values (35:26–42:18)
• Religious tolerance as Franklin’s unique American contribution (42:18–45:27)
• Closing reflections on Franklin’s continued legacy in America (45:27–end)

Final Reflections

Walter Isaacson positions Franklin as both a product and shaper of American identity—a man whose talents, humility, and evolving morality offer a template for the nation’s continued self-improvement. His gifts of compromise, community focus, and tolerance are presented as enduring solutions for today’s political divides, suggesting that Franklin’s legacy is not fixed but continually renewed with each generation.