Of all the founding fathers, the white ones anyways,..............Ben Franklin was the most capable one, by far, he was smarter adn more wise and knowledgable than them all.......................George Washington was gifted, but he really didn't care too much for politics, Tom Jefferson was teh most political and into the American cause adn more gifted than Washington intellectually, but Ben Franklin was the most...............it is odd that the most capable was an ambassador, a lower post.........Alex Hamilton was very gifted, died in a duel, they made him the 1st sec. of the treasury.....................what was so important to the founding fathers about France that they would send the most gifted there?

MILESTONES: 1776–1783

Benjamin Franklin: First American Diplomat, 1776–1785

Benjamin Franklin, the most distinguished scientific and literary American of his age, was the first American diplomat.

Benjamin Franklin

He served from 1776 to 1778 on a three-man commission to France charged with the critical task of gaining French support for American independence. French aristocrats and intellectuals embraced Franklin as the personification of the New World Enlightenment. His likeness appeared on medallions, rings, watches, and snuffboxes, while fashionable ladies adopted the coiffure a la Franklin in imitation of the fur cap he wore instead of a wig. His popularity and diplomatic skill—along with the first American battlefield success at Saratoga—convinced France to recognize American independence and conclude an alliance with the thirteen states in 1778. Franklin presented his credentials to the French court in 1779, becoming the first American Minister (the 18th American century equivalent of ambassador) to be received by a foreign government. Franklin’s home in Passy, just outside Paris, became the center of American diplomacy in Europe. When Thomas Jefferson succeeded Franklin in 1785, the French Foreign Minister, Vergennes asked: “It is you who replace Dr. Franklin?” Jefferson replied, “No one can replace him, Sir; I am only his successor.”