AskHistorians

Ben Franklin was a very accomplished liar. His household owned slaves his entire life, and he only publicly condemned slavery in the last five years of his life. I would hardly call him nearly modern.

He was, however, extraordinarily good at misleading people about his actual life and practice. In that sense, he was excellent at publicizing his highlight reel. He would have made an excellent Facebook boomer. 🤣

He was very intelligent and an incredible politician though. His whole "backwoods" costume during his time in France vs. his high-class sartorial choices in England is particularly amusing to me.