Benjamin Franklin’s Last Bet by Michael Meyer
Benjamin Franklin added “self-evident” to the “We hold these truths” line in the Declaration of Independence. He also served as the first U.S. diplomat, invented the lightning rod and bifocals, and urged compromise at the Constitutional Convention—when he wasn’t coining phrases (“A penny saved is a penny …”) that have endured over the centuries. Less remembered are the pair of endowments he established in Boston and Philadelphia, lending money at low interest to help “tradesmen,” hands-on skilled laborers, to establish careers.
With Benjamin Franklin’s Last Bet, University of Pittsburgh English professor Michael Meyer explores that groundbreaking act of philanthropy as well as the ways it was used or misused over time. Unlike the noisy venture philanthropists of today, with their showy demands and naming rights, Franklin’s bequest was intended to quietly foster the growth of a skilled labor force and support trade schools—not unlike the mission of MATC.
As Meyer notes in his engaging account, Franklin would be disappointed by the scarcity of young people nowadays who are willing to roll up their sleeves and learn how to snake a drain or repair a rattling air conditioner.
