His numerous books include the return of George Washington, a New York Times bestseller, to the edges of the earth, winner of the 2019 National Outdoor book award. And some are for the gods, the scopes trial and the american the continued debate oversight of religion for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for history. He was an inaugural library fallow at National Library for the study of George Washington located on the grounds ofra mout vernon. He lives in malibu, california. Please give a warm savannah welcome to edward larson. [applause] thank you very much. Youre welcome. Thank you very much, thank you for having me back to savannah. In the spring when the essay deals are out. Thats always my favorite time. And as note i i taught for 20 years at university of georgia. Thats what i started as a young professor, and eventually was chair of the History Department and those are some of my happiest days. And and i want to give a shout t today two of my oldest friends in the world, or lose my oldest friends in georgia here to see me today and here to be back in savannah. It is always a treat. For lunch i make sure i had sweet tea and fried okra. [laughing] i know the rules so what im going to do is i know not supposed to read per se except for a few minutes of what i thought i would do just to give a little flavor of the book i thought i would read the first page which i printed out some wasnt tempted to read anymore. The last page at the end and then sandwich my of the talks between the butter wanted to give you a little field for that if you dont mind. So heres ath i begin. My dear friend, the last words that Benjamin Franklin addressed to l George Washington that came at the end of the letter written in what franklin knew would be the final year off his life. Washington closed his response to franklin with the salutation, your sincere friend. In thisri exchange written in te first year of washingtons presidency, each expressed his undying respect and affection or the other with franklin at the esteem and washington topping him with veneration. At the time frankling and washington with the two most admired individuals in the united states, and the most famous americans in the world. Their final letters to each other representative fitting into a three decade Long Partnership that more than any other peering would forge the american nation. Their relationship begins during the french and indian war when franklin supplied the wagons for british general illfated assault on fort mccain and they buried under the dirt road of the retreating wagons. Both had warned braddock against the frontier attack. Rekindled in 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, this friendship continued through the revolution, Constitutional Convention and establishment of the new federal government. Perhaps because of the differences in their background, age, manner, and public image, the relationship is not why they commented on then and remains little discussed today, but it existed and it helped shape the course of american street. Both have been held by historians as quote the first american. But, they were friends first and on like adams and jefferson, never rivals. Their relationship gained historical significance during the American Revolution when franklin led americas diplomatic revolution in europe and washington commanded the colonial army. Victory required both to succeed in their success require coordination. This historic collaboration, when coupled with their role as the two most prominent delegates of the Constitutional Convention, helped to found a nation and propeller global experiment in liberty and republican rule. Well, thats how i begin to try to step the stage. So, let me begin this talk by telling you what led me to discuss this relatively unusual peering. It was a partnership, and thats what i use in my book. But it was not the type of partnership that we generally write and read as historians. Usually those are hierarch partnerships where you have a mentor and mentee relationship or supporter, Like Washington and hamilton, or jefferson and madison, or maybe lincoln and his team of rivals in his cabinet under him. This was different because he was a partnership of equal. Of people who had equal stature basically when they came into it. Equal greatness actually. Now, those sort of parents to exist and they are important. If you want to think of some others, think of say franklin to Eleanor Roosevelt and Winston Churchill during world war ii. They were both necessary in their own ways to win world war ii. But, one was not subordinate to the other, both were necessary to defeat germany, they Work Together in an Alliance Even though by that time they were both truly phenomenally great men for all, for all churchill had done and roosevelt living through the depression. Another example might be telling the story of the passage of the Civil Rights Act and talking about lbj and Martin Luther king. Both are independently important. Both were critical but in different ways. And so, this was that sort of partnership. Now, while why i picked on this . Well, when i think about it, there were probably three ideas floating around in my head. One, i started out as a scholar of leadership study. I studied under James Mcgregor burns, the founder of leadership studies, and im interested in leadership studies. And, here you had two legendary leaders, legendary leaders who brought the country together, a country that was divided into 13 states in a vast frontier, states that do not trust each other, yet, these people were so above that they were national heroes. Think of, i taught at university of georgia, the college that you teach at undergrad is franklin college. Named for Benjamin Franklin in tennessee was originally named franklin when it first applied to join the union. Most states have a franklin county. Most states also have a Washington County and indeed one state is named after washington. So, these two people were unit fires. They had leadership skills that could draw people together. Indeed, think of it. After the war, franklin became governor of pennsylvania and he was elected, they call it president back them the highest office that was before the constitution. He was elected governor or president to pennsylvania twice unanimously. Washington was elected president twice unanimously. That is when there was sharp partisan differences in pennsylvania. And it was unanimous and he wouldve one another but there were term limits. Washington was the same way, elected unanimously even after the partisan divide. He where people who were able in some ways to Work Together and both of them were called the indispensable american. Both of them were indispensable. You to look at any historical study, all historians agree that the two indispensable people for the success of the American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention were Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. It would not have worked without both of them. Sure, others were important, jefferson and adams, nathaniel green during the revolution, these were important but not indispensable. And people knew it back them. Indeed, jefferson commented on it and said, the two of you, you and franklin are in another leak beyond us and the whole world knows that. Adam said the same thing but you know adams in a snarky way, he had that famous line that all people remember about the revolution is that franklin threw down of the lightning bolt and up pops George Washington, and we want. But, they both recognize the same thing that they were the two indispensable men. And so, i was curious as to how these indispensable people Work Together. The same way i would be curious to know how roosevelt and churchill worked together in world war ii. How did they succeed in working together . Now, thats a leadership studies question. Second, risa might pick this topic was well, nobody had done it before. And i hate to say it, there are some wonderful historians who pick up a topic, Walter Isaacson can go right another biography of ben franklin and still say new things, though there have been many, many before. And, ron chernow can pick up George Washington and write it again, though they have been many before. I dont do that. Im not that i suppose, confident. I have had a history of picking topics that i think have been overlooked. That was in the scopes trial, when i wrote a book about the scopes trial, everybody had heard of the scopes trial or most people had come it was a Fairly Famous trial and American Legend and people had seen the movie or seen the play, but no historian had ever written a book about the scopes trial. So no historian had brought to the looking over the archival material. Same with the return of George Washington. I looked at a narrow period in washingtons life after he resigned as commanderinchief and before he became president and that was sort of a forgotten period, so i could be one of the first to write on that. I could hit it new and fresh. And if you look at my other books, they had that same pattern. So, here were these two legends, these two indispensable people who i had covered for years teaching every year, teaching your time if your kids go to georgia, and teaching all of them in that huge hall with about 450 students in introductory American History and, there i would talk about them, washington and franklin and i could tackle the question, but nobody really had studied how they Work Together. I could look at that question so it was something new i could write on and try to bring something new to the topic rather than go back over something that had been studied. And finally, i was drawn to the topic and the improperly the final step was that it was a writing challenge. I come in my stage in life, like, i love to do research, i love to be in the archives and i knew this could bring me into the archives because i had to carefully track where washington was at all times, where franklin was, where they coincided, where they met together, and i found there is a lot more than i expected. Look at all of their letters, their comments about each other. But, then to try to tell the story together, if youre telling a normal joint biography about washington and hamilton then you just follow them working together. You just follow the overlapping career. With franklin in washington you had two icons of American History. People think they know about them. There is received wisdom. Not all of it is accurate because they are largerthanlife, they are legends and what to do say at the end, if you have the legend by go with the facts. So, you have this idea of what these people were like ians, what your idea is that they are very different people. Washington stern and reserved and well, and sort of like your stern father figure and franklin flapping into with humorous and a twinkle in your eye, sort of your favorite uncle image, so we already have americas uncle image i suppose how to tell the stories together when they had so much happen independently, because what you had as you had these two individual men standing greatness and then coming together and working together and then going apart and then coming together again and going apart again. And so what i ended up doing was go back and forth between them over time, follow, just tracing and outlining their history because you have to, when you have people who are legends rather than real people, you have to reestablish the facts of these people of who they were why it was important what they brought to the bringing together. And then when they came together i read in great depth, when they meet together, when they would have times together and then when they separated the again it would be like following the trail separately and then when they came together deep and out. And so, it was a challenging writing, objects and one i enjoy doing. So, like the challenge. It was a Research Challenge in a writing challenge in something new. Now, what did i find as i work through these people . Well, think about it. You had franklin, they first came together in this surprise me. I figured, honestly what i expected to find was a working partnership and thats why the title which was given before i actually wrote the book when i proposed it it was the Founding Partnership. When i got done i realized it could have been the founding friendship could have been the title. But, i was working on the framework that they were going to be partners at certain times and looking for the partnership. I found that started much earlier than any historian had ever noted. I found out they did not start in the revolutionary war, it started in the french and indian war. In the 1750s. Now, by that time franklin had risen from virtually nothing to be the leading citizen of philadelphia. Philadelphia then was the second largest englishspeaking city and the entire world and by far the largest and most important city in america. Now, he was an indentured servant, came from a very poor family in boston and literally fled his indentured services and was therefore in immigrants in quaker, pennsylvania. He developed not just a printing shop, way beyond that. He became one of the richest citizens certainly in pennsylvania, really in the new world, because, he developed a whole new chain of print shops it. He in a regraded backward into mills, and to be in the postmaster, he also wrote contents for his publications. He became the leading american humorist of his day. Red all over the colonies, the almanac is just one example of that. So, he had risen to leadership. And when the french and indian war came, he had moved in the politics as well and he was basically the leader of the non quaker party know he got along great with quakers, he was a leader of the non quaker party in the state legislature. When the french and indian war comes, if you remember the french and indian war was fought initially over the ohio country the area around pittsburgh, eastern ohio, western pennsylvania and west virginia, centered on what is now pittsburgh. And because of the fluke of the way the british had written the original charters, that area was claimed both by pennsylvania going west and virginia going northwest. Following the potomac northwest. The area around pittsburgh was claimed by both. Income the french and that touches of the french and indian war. When that starts, they, working with the native americans started to be massacres of the pennsylvania settlers as well as the virginia settlers. So the quakers resign because they cant fight and then that turns over to ben franklin and he becomes the commanderinchief of pennsylvania forces. He designs the military and raises the military and goes out to the. He is so clever was right where to put the forts to protect the frontier. He builds the fords, hes on the frontier. Washington, who is 20 years younger, he has relief or to a day. He was not supposed to be leader of his family estate, his father was a plantation owner and sort of a feeling tobacco plantation, tired swale. It had gone to his older brother, he had two older brothers. He was the first son of the second wife and back then in virginia everything went to the oldest son. He was not going to get anything. He thought he had to work for a living and we go out to the frontier and become a surveyor. And then, both of his brothers die. And, his older brother, lauren had been commanderinchief of the virginia militia because of his earlier service in the battle of cartagena in an earlier war and so washington not only seceded to mount vernon and the plantation he also seceded to the title of head of the militia. So, he is still in his late 20s, he is head of the virginia militia. He heads up to defend the same country and indeed, some of his antics touch off or worsen the situation but in the end, they are successful. And so, franklin and washington begin working together then as colonial leaders defending the frontier and fight in the, thats why they got involved with braddock. In fact, they were fighting there braddock comes over with an army and is going to move back and take the Fort Duquesne and, he has this idea of taking his 5000 men british army and marching across the mountains in single file with the wagons. Franklin is telling him, those native americans are going to chop you to shreds. And he says, they may do that year petit east militias, but they wont do that to the british army, they did it to the british army. The only ones who fought well and that encounter were there virginia troops with washington because they knew how to fight in that situation. So anyway, there they were, they Work Together and met together often and already knew each other. After the french and indian war franklin goes off and is the agent for the legislature in london. He already by now is one of the most famous scientists in the world, his writings are read worldwide. He is a true major figure in the enlightenment. Washington meanwhile goes back to his plantation, he finally gets it himself from the widow of lawrence and he turns this feeling tobacco plantation into five successful wheats farms. He is a very smart farmer who knows he is never going to make it with tobacco and grow sweets. Eventually build the largest whiskey distillery in the new world, the processes wheat and grains and he gets the best g