Douglas Anderson analyzes the influences upon the young Benjamin Franklin. He focuses on the Silence Dogood papers and his Poor Richards' Almanac, which to Anderson gives readers insight to Franklin's political, religious, economical and science influences. Anderson relates that during his furlough in London, Franklin expanded greatly literary and intellectually, showing how he was influenced from 1724-1726, his time in London, chronologically by religion, economics, science and finally politics. This can be shown, the progress of Franklin's intellectual sphere, through his writings, first seen in his Dissertation in 1728, next in his "Plan of Conduct" of 1726, and "Articles" in 1728. Anderson does not just give us a general overview on his writing, but he explains what influenced Franklin throughout his early years before he became the American international political figure we know him as today. Without these early influences, Franklin would not be the booming American known to all children and scholars as a true "American."

This picture embodies the late Benjamin Franklin, the politician, the world traveler, the writer, the scholar and the patriot. One of the largest images that can be seen is Benjamin Franklin himself. He is dressed in he usual Quaker suit with his buckle shoes, with a pair of glasses in his left hand, this reinforces the fact that he is a scholar and a learned man. The desk and large quantities of books represent that he is in fact a scholar, also a book open on the desk it looks as though he was just reading something and we, the viewer, opened the door to his study and disturbed him. Among the books, Franklin has scrolls of what one would assume to be maps, and a globe, which to the viewer portrays Franklin as a well traveled man, knowledgeable of other cultures and customs. The cloths on him and the type of chair he is in suggest he has risen in the socioeconomic structure of early America, along with that, the three pointed hat that rests on the bookshelf, as if he has put it away, retiring the patriot side of the many sides of Franklin. Benjamin Franklin has put on many masks throughout his years, and this portrait can convey them all, emulating who he is and what it means to be an American, and achieving the American dream. 
Sadd, Henry S. Benjamin Franklin. 1847. Library of Congress, Washington D.C. 9 April, 2010. 

Benjamin Franklin was the Ambassador to France for the duration of the American Revolution, and during his time in France he was a highly sought after commodity by the French people. Franklin was able to play the politics of the French better than any other American diplomat who had come to the country, such as John Adams and Silas Deane. Adams was appalled at the way Franklin charmed the Parisians and the King of France himself! Benjamin Franklin was known to stay up until around midnight with the rich, famous and influential just drinking champagne and using his words to persuade them to support the American Revolution. He single handily secured more than $40 million in loans, gifts and supplies from France to keep the American government running, he also managed the smuggling of tons of military supplies to American forces including the ships that terrorized the British on their home front. Unfortunately his family members who remained in America were seized along with his home when the King's forces captured Philadelphia, he did not show that he was upset, but after leaving the city before he could be captured Franklin realized that he was needed elsewhere instead of back in America. After Philadelphia was taken, an offer was brought upon the table a little later, an official military alliance with France and practically unlimited funds provided by the French. France only reverted to this because they believed in Benjamin Franklin, they did not want to disappoint the man whom they have come to admire, also it was a grand opportunity to stick it to the British. In 1778, Franklin went to the Palace at Versailles and King Louis offered his formal alliance to Franklin, which moved him so greatly it brought him to tears. The war did last for years to come, but after the British army lost at Yorktown against a combined force of French and American soldiers, no one would have said that Benjamin Franklin was not the man who deserved the credit for ending the Revolution. Franklin used his down to earth persona to establish relations with the French, and with those relations, he used them to his advantage to further the American cause.
Fleming, Thomas. "Franklin Charms Paris." American Heritage 60.1 (2010): 46. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 12 Apr. 2010