DIPLOMAT OF THE WEEK

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Born January 17, 1706, Boston, Massachusetts Bay, British America. Died April 17, 1790, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

          American polymath who was active as a writer, stateman, political philosopher, Printer and publisher, inventor and scientist, and diplomat. Among the leading intellectual of his time.

FRANKLIN helped draft the Declaration  of Independence and was one of IRS signers, represented the United States in France during the American Revolution, and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He made important contributions to science , especially in the understanding of electricity, ans is remembered for the wit, wisdom, and elegance of his writing.

          As the only person to have signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Treaty of Alliance with France in 1778, Treaty of Paris in 1783, and U.S. Constitution in 1787, Franklin is considered one of the Foremost Founding Fathers of the United States. His pervasive influence in the early history of the nation has led to his being jocularly called "the only president of the United States who was never president of the United States".

           Franklin's likeness is ubiquitous. Since 1928, it has adorned American $100 bills. From 1948 to 1963, Franklin's portrait was on the half-dollar. He has appeared on a $50 bill and on several varieties of the $100 bill from 1914 and 1918. Franklin also appears on the $1,000 Series EE savings bond.

Read also:country-in-focus-Ireland

           On April 12, 1976, as part of a bicentennial celebration, Congress dedicated a 20-foot (6 m) tall marble statue in Philadelphia's Franklin Institute as the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller presided over the dedication ceremony. Many of Franklin's personal possessions are on display at the institute. In London, his house at 36 Craven Street, which is the only surviving former residence of Franklin, was first marked with a blue plaque and has since been opened to the public as the Benjamin Franklin House. 

          He has been honored on U.S. postage stamps many times. The image of Franklin, the first postmaster general of the United States, occurs on the face of U.S. postage more than any other notable American save that of George Washington. He appeared on the first U.S. postage stamp issued in 1847. From 1908 through 1923, the U.S. Post Office issued a series of postage stamps commonly referred to as the Washington–Franklin Issues, in which Washington and Franklin were depicted many times over a 14-year period, the longest run of any one series in U.S. postal history. However, he only appears on a few commemorative stamps. Some of the finest portrayals of Franklin on record can be found on the engravings inscribed on the face of U.S. postage.

HIS DIPLOMATIC POSITIONS

• First U.S Postmaster general (1775- 76)

• 6th President of Pennsylvania (1785- 88)

• U.S Minister to Sweden (1782- 83)

• U.S Minister to France (1779- 1785)

• Postmaster General of British America (1753- 74)

• Speaker of Pennsylvania Assembly (May 1764- Oct 1764)

• 2nd President of the University of Pennsylvania (1749-54)

• Delegate from Pennsylvania to the Second Continental Congress (May 1775- Oct 1776)

                                                                    Editor,

                                                                    Derounke.