Benjamin Franklin was probably one of the most influential and accomplished men in American history. He was a man of vigilance, pursuit, and honor. Franklin was a printer by trade, though his occupational experiences were very diverse. He was a persuasive writer, although for the first decades of his life, he hardly wrote anything using his own name. As he became more confident in his writing skills, Franklin finally started to use his name, but only wrote for the greater good. His autobiography is one of the very rare occasions when he wrote about himself.

As busy as Benjamin Franklin was, one must wonder how he had time to write his life story. He did it over a period of eighteen years, making three separate attempts to complete it. The first section was written in 1771 as a genealogical summary addressed to his son, William. He wrote...