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Comment by DoreenMichele | Hacker News Reader

#12 Chastity

Ben Franklin was a notorious ladies man who couldn't keep his pants zipped, even as an old codger.

https://www.biography.com/news/benjamin-franklin-ladies-man-...

The biographical sketch you linked to references Benjamin Franklin's wife's name as Rebecca more than once. His wife was named Deborah.

Is it possible this biographer (and lots of others more concerned about gossip than reality) missed some other important facts about the man?

This kind of character bashing is not unique to Benjamin Franklin. Ty Cobb is another example that comes to mind: https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/who-was-ty-cobb-the-history-w...

Frankly if you were to ask anyone their virtues what often comes to mind is their personal aspirations not necessarily the habits they mastered.

I think my comment is being misinterpreted. I am not saying Franklin lacked virtues. I am suggesting he wrote this list down and it persists because of his fame, but should not be presumed to be an accurate reflection of his actual lifestyle.

The character of Benjamin Franklin is actually something that has some significance for me and my family. I named one of my boys after him. As a Latter-day Saint who believes that having a high commitment to sexual morality is integral to one's character, when my wife and I picked the name for our son, we were concerned about rumors we'd heard about the character of Benjamin Franklin, so we did extensive research.

I read through dozens of articles that had reached with confidence the conclusion that Benjamin Franklin was a ladies' man and sexually promiscuous, but I didn't find anything in his (nor among his contemporaries) letters and other communication with women in France or elsewhere that would lead to that conclusion except when authors made big leaps logically and inserted lots of their own bias.

One of quotes I found as I was researching Benjamin Franklin was this one from Ezra Taft Benson:

When one casts doubt about the character of these noble sons of God, I believe he or she will have to answer to the God of heaven for it.

Here is the whole speech for context: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson_gods-hand-na...

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