Benjamin Franklin

"This was one of the first biographies I ever read about American politicians. I read it as an undergrad. I also read David McCullough’s biography of John Adams—another real famous biography—and they sparked my passion for politics. The Adams book traced much his life with vivid detail. He was a key founding father and America’s second president. As you noted, Walter Isaacson’s writing is spectacular. Getting to know about Franklin through this book was very formative for me in my thinking about the subjects of history and politics . It does, yes, and Isaacson is very meticulous. And, you know, he has fun. I’ve read several of his books—he has written a lot—and you can tell he’s having a ton of fun, learning about and sharing about his subjects. He picks such interesting subjects! Albert Einstein , Benjamin Franklin , Henry Kissinger… more recently, Elon Musk . He picks folks who are fascinating and really cool to learn about. And by that, I don’t just mean just some really smart people who are really successful. But more generally: I think he is fascinated by the uber intelligent folks. He probably wouldn’t write a biography of George W. Bush, for example. No offense."