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I wouldn't underestimate the sex lives of senior citizens. Here in Florida in a retirement town called the Villages, STDs are running rampant. Also, Franklin was a scientist – maybe he mixed his own viagraesque cocktails.
Someone may correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Ben Franklin was still married at this point in his life, which would have made it less socially-appropriate for him to be as casanova-like as he might be portrayed. Besides, being a senior citizen, it's not like he would have been like a college-age flirt. Calling him a “ladies' man” could be a kind of term of endearment rather than a metaphor for a professional pick up artist. Since he was an international celebrity, I could see that if he was generally charming with women (without being “sexual”) he might have made a significant, positive impression on them. And that, to my knowledge, corresponded with the political purpose of his trip to France.
I wouldn't underestimate the sex lives of senior citizens. Here in Florida in a retirement town called the Villages, STDs are running rampant. Also, Franklin was a scientist – maybe he mixed his own viagraesque cocktails.
Franklin was a notorious philanderer. That's why he spent so much time in Europe where taking mistresses was somewhat more accepted. On the flip side, Franklin used to love to sit and listen to George Whitefield preach. So he had his faults and his virtues.
For my current history class, we read Ben's Autobiography and I loved it. (Hence my site name, BensGal… ;D) He, very much, was a ladies man but I think this tendency may go along with his ability to “work” the people. Towards the end of the book, the editor included some of Ben's letters to various women in his life. Pretty interesting. He seemed to be a very caring man & I'm thinking some of his relationships were due to loneliness as he wasn't particularly close to his actual family in their early years due to work and political life. I also enjoyed reading “The Prometheus I & II” portion of the book, too. Ben Franklin was amazing, imo.
I will have to agree that his autobiography is an excellent read, and left me wanting to learn so much more. The documentary which you mention I have seen a few times and find it is also quite well done; supplemented with his autobiography you can gain a very good understanding of how talented this man was.Of all his accomplishments, however, and his importance to the American colonies as a diplomat and a 'man of the people' came at a price, and I would have to say it was his family that suffered the most. I think he mentioned in his autobiography (I will look it up) that he admits to not being a good father to his son, but of course since he was almost never home and his son being born in the shadow of such a famous man would probably lead to many expectations that his son possibly couldn't live up to.In my opinion, Benjamin Franklin was certainly a polymath and to me represents America best and would be one of the top 5 people I'd like to meet if I could travel back in time.
