House Talk: Benjamin Franklin and the Art of Diplomacy by Dr Márcia Balisciano

A portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Duplessis 1778

Printer, philosopher, author, scientist and inventor.  These are among the guises of the famous Dr. Franklin.  But Benjamin Franklin House Director, Dr. Márcia Balisciano, will argue his role as a diplomat was among his most important and lasting contributions. She will trace the beginnings of his diplomatic career in Philadelphia, to his presiding over the first de facto American embassy at 36 Craven Street, before leading at the French Court and building consensus, toward the end of his life, at the Constitutional Convention.