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HOW TO INTEREST FOREIGN POWERS
IN YOUR CAUSE
Thoughts from Our Leader:
Three years ago, shortly before his death in 1790, I was privileged
to interview the great American ambassador, Benjamin Franklin.
Benjamin
Franklin as minister to France
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Franklin kindly shared the secret of his success in gaining French
aid for the American cause. When Franklin came to Paris as ambassador
for the newly-formed American states, the king of France was not sure
he wished to support the Americans. However, Franklin gained much
popularity in the sophisticated French capital by acting the part
of a simple, homespun American colonial. In truth, Franklin already
had spent two decades in the courts of Europe, but the French believed
him the perfect example of the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau's
natural man, more at home in the wild forests of his homeland. Franklin
tells me he did nothing to discourage this belief, and thus won much
support for his country's cause. |
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