Remembering the Revolution

U.S. News & World Report has assembled an interesting collection of Revolutionary War stories. An excerpt from Diane Cole's article on Benjamin Franklin:


Instead, the enduring image of Franklin in Paris tends to be that of a flirtatious old man, too busy visiting the city's fashionable salons to pursue affairs of state as rigorously as John Adams. When Adams joined Franklin in Paris in 1779, he was scandalized by the late hours and French lifestyle his colleague had adopted, says Schiff. Adams was clueless that it was through the dropped hints and seemingly offhand remarks at these salons that so much of French diplomacy was conducted. "In France, you did work socially, and that didn't jibe with John Adams," says Schiff. Nor with his wife, Abigail, who was shocked by Franklin's familiar behavior with the French ladies in their overly revealing gowns.