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In this clear, crisply written story of his life, Benjamin Franklin shows the reader what his childhood was like and what he came to value as meaningful and worthwhile techniques of communication, conduct, and self-improvement. A conscientious and serious youth, Franklin nevertheless left his boyhood town because he had impregnated a young lady. This early act of responsibility led him to pursue work that led him, in the coming years of the American Revolution, to be a strong advocate of political independence, even at the cost of war. Franklin became as fine a statesman as ever the United States was to produce. One of the country's founding fathers and a tireless champion of individual liberty, he also served as the American ambassador to France. He tells of how he learned the printing trade and how he established "Poor Richard's Almanac." He also shares with his readers his hopes for the free country that he helped to bring into being. The reader cannot help but admire this brilliant and brave founding father, as much for his humility as for his services to his country and its future citizens.