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Bush: I Can't Fill Franklin's Shoes 1 hour, 35 minutes ago By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent BRUSSELS, Belgium - Fully aware that many Europeans have disagreed with him on Iraq (news - web sites) and other issues, President Bush (news - web sites) was quick on Monday to acknowledge his low popularity ratings. "You know, on this journey to Europe, I follow in some large footsteps," Bush said at the beginning of his speech that addressed hotspots around the world. "More than two centuries ago, Benjamin Franklin arrived on this continent to great acclaim." Bush quoted an observer...

The people of Massachusetts enjoy a beautiful landscape rich in history, some of our nation’s most prominent universities, and the fourth highest per capita income in the country. Yet they can’t come up with better representatives than John Kerry and Teddy Kennedy. How is this possible? One, the nation’s most prominent coward, the other called traitor by his band of brothers, our country's two most socialist senators, the two biggest national embarrassments of modern times, and both from Massachusetts. I’m afraid this does not look good for the people who keep electing them… I suspect that Senator Kennedy has garnered...

Better known as a statesman and an inventor, Benjamin Franklin is the man to whom we refer. "Patriot" has more of a heroic connotation, but when you read this, you'll realize that he was indeed a patriot. Franklin spent much of his life in England and was well-respected there. Beginning in 1762, he worked there to mediate the increasing disputes developing between the homeland and the colonies. Prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, two of England's most distinguished persons, Admiral Lord Howe and (Prime Minister) Frederick Lord North, attempted to coerce Franklin to mediate the situation in England's...

Dear Jon, So “America (the Book)” was named Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly. More than successful, it’s a cultural phenomenon. I had to see what all the shouting’s about. If your goal was money and self-promotion, congratulations. If you had a higher goal, close but no cigar. Begin with the Foreword “by” Thos. Jefferson. Ol’ Tom was one of the greatest political thinkers in history. I’m not going to pick on deliberate falsehoods or fake quotes. Nor brevity, nor attempts at humor. Just flat-out, factual errors. You have Jefferson say “we” composed “the Declaration and the Constitution.” You...

I am looking to greatly increase my knowledge of American History over the years ahead. I know there are so many experts and aficionados here on my favorite forum, and I would be so grateful if you could advise some starting points for me. In fact, I would appreciate a roadmap on this to follow over the next couple of years. I have tried just plunging in reading historical documents, but feel that I need more background first to make it stick. I have learned that on many topics that you don't need to know "much" to know more than...

Ah, the French. How to think of them? There is an easy default answer: kindly and gratefully. After all, they helped us in the Revolutionary War, gave us Alexis de Tocqueville and the Statue of Liberty, and to this day feel a keen republican spirit in harmony with America's own. Sure, we have had our spats. But when the chips are down, you can count on France to be on our side, more or less, and to supply some great wine if it is needed. ...Before 9/11, 77% of Americans held a favorable opinion of France. By March 2003, only...

Before we get rolling on John Kerry’s commitment to a “global test” for American foreign policy, let’s take a look at the latest giant leap for mankind that took place over the Mojave Desert in California this week. The two events are related, in a curious way. SpaceShipOne was an ugly duckling, designed by Burt Rutan for the precise purpose of winning the Ansari X Prize of $10 million. A generation from now, no one will remember the name of the prize, only the fact of the first private, entrepreneurial step into space. Just like no one today remembers the...

They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security. – Benjamin Franklin I imagine that you have heard the quote before. On my side of the Atlantic, though we may argue about what constitutes "essential" liberty, we do agree upon the importance of the principle articulated in Franklin's maxim. The principle is applicable now, as the cliché goes, more than ever — but not in the usual context. Since the events of September 11, 2001, critics of the war on terror's domestic policies have frequently invoked Franklin's warning as part of their objections...

Over the past several decades, a different source of liberty that can be traded away has been discovered. The liberty of others has been identified as a tradable commodity. They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security. -- Benjamin Franklin I imagine that you have heard the quote before. On my side of the Atlantic, though we may argue about what constitutes "essential" liberty, we do agree upon the importance of the principle articulated in Franklin's maxim. The principle is applicable now, as the cliché goes, more than ever -- but not...

<p>In his best-selling book "Benjamin Franklin, An American Life," Walter Isaacson says Ben would be completely at home in the information age. Like many of us, he would be alternately amused, excited, appalled and outraged about how things are going.</p>

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He was the tenth son of soap maker, Josiah Franklin. Benjamin's mother was Abiah Folger, the second wife of Josiah. In all, Josiah would father 17 children. Josiah intended for Benjamin to enter into the clergy. However, Josiah could only afford to send his son to school for one year and clergymen needed years of schooling. But, as young Benjamin loved to read he had him apprenticed to his brother James, who was a printer. After helping James compose pamphlets and set type which was grueling work, 12-year-old Benjamin would...

Do you live in a democracy? If you do it must surely be interesting, voting on all those issues and participating directly in government. I've always wondered what it would be like. Gathering together and voting on issues it must be very exciting. Most Americans believe they live in a democracy and many folks will argue they do because well, their teachers told them so. The truth is our nation never has been. In fact the members of the constitutional convention argued this very notion as they debated the Articles of the Constitution of the United States of America. I...

The pragmatic founding father defies deism and comes up with his own conception of the Creator. Soon after the death of his child Francis, Benjamin Franklin was moved to set down his religious beliefs in an address he gave to a group of philosophically inclined friends known as "the Junto." Though he committed these ideas to paper more than 60 years before his death, they would serve as the basis for his understanding of the divine to the end of his life. In this description of Franklin's beliefs from Walter Isaacson's new book, "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life," we can...

<p>The Pilgrims and the Mayflower also are excluded, as well as the word "war," which has been replaced with "conflict" in lessons about the early settlers, colonization and expansion.</p> <p>Also gone are most references to the inhumane treatment many American soldiers endured in wars overseas during the 20th century. However, the standards specifically note that students should identify slavery, the Holocaust and modern Iraq as examples "i n which people have behaved in cruel and inhumane ways."</p>

The Jan. 28th edition of the Washington Times reports that "George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are not included in the revised version of the New Jersey Department of Education history standards. The Pilgrims and the Mayflower also are excluded, as well as the word 'war,' which has been replaced with 'conflict' in lessons about the early settlers, colonization and expansion." The educrats and shallow politicians may not like to admit it, but there is a war going on in education, and New Jersey, the location of Washington's great revolutionary victories at Trenton and Princeton, is among the battlefronts. ...

Americans remember Benjamin Franklin as one of our founding fathers. And well they should, as he was not just our most famous citizen at our country's birth, he was a central part of that birth. As a member of the Second Continental Congress, Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence. As a member of the Constitutional Convention, he helped draft the Constitution. Both documents bear his signature. He also signed the Treaty of Alliance with France, bringing the colonies French aid against the British, and The Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War and recognized the independence of the...

TORONTO (CP) - The United States is defined by a handful of historical figures. Yet Americans themselves know surprisingly little about one of them. But a handful of Canadians hopes to change all that with Benjamin Franklin, a two-part docudrama airing next Tuesday and Wednesday on PBS (check local listings). The project took years of work by former Montrealer Ron Blumer, who also wrote Liberty! The American Revolution, shown on PBS in 1997. He's spent much of the intervening time doing research, much of it in Yale University's vast Franklin archives. "This is like writing a PhD thesis, really," says...

THE next time you see a $100 bill, have a look at the face on it — Benjamin Franklin, an early American patriot. As early as 1787, he warned of the danger of the Jews. Though I have read widely about the Jews, I have found no truer or more accurate an opinion than that of Franklin. His opinion was also shared by George Washington who became the first president of the United States. Franklin said: “I agree completely with General Washington that we must protect this young nation from their influence. In every land the Jews have settled, they...