Authenticated anecdotes that made, or were said to make, Washington smile, laugh, or roll on the floor in glee

George Washington Laughing: Humorous Anecdotes by and About Our First President from Original Sources

History

Zall, Paul M.

Americas

Archon Books

Ben Franklin Laughing: Anecdotes from Original Sources by and About Benjamin Franklin

Univ. Of California Pr.

Collects comic tales concerning the life of Abraham Lincoln told by other people and witty stories told by himself on a variety of themes

Abe Lincoln Laughing

Although he called himself merely a "printer" in his will, Benjamin Franklin could have also called himself a diplomat, a doctor, an electrician, a frontier general, an inventor, a journalist, a legislator, a librarian, a magistrate, a postmaster, a promoter, a publisher―and a humorist. John Adams wrote of Franklin, "He had wit at will. He had humor that when he pleased was pleasant and delightful . . . [and] talents for irony, allegory, and fable, that he could adapt with great skill, to the promotion of moral and political truth." In Benjamin Franklin's Humor, author Paul M. Zall shows how one of America's founding fathers used humor to further both personal and national interests. Early in his career, Franklin impersonated the feisty widow Silence Dogood in a series of comically moralistic essays that helped his brother James outpace competitors in Boston's incipient newspaper market. In the mid-eighteenth century, he displayed his talent for comic impersonation in numerous editions of Poor Richard's Almanac, a series of pocket-sized tomes filled with proverbs and witticisms that were later compiled in Franklin's The Way to Wealth (1758), one of America's all-time bestselling books. Benjamin Franklin was sure to be remembered for his early work as an author, printer, and inventor, but his accomplishments as a statesman later in life firmly secured his lofty stature in American history. Zall shows how Franklin employed humor to achieve desired ends during even the most difficult diplomatic situations: while helping draft the Declaration of Independence, while securing France's support for the American Revolution, while brokering the treaty with England to end the War for Independence, and while mediating disputes at the Constitutional Convention. He supervised and facilitated the birth of a nation with customary wit and aplomb. Zall traces the development of an acute sense of humor throughout the life of a great American. Franklin valued humor not as an end in itself but as a means to gain a competitive edge, disseminate information, or promote a program. Early in life, he wrote about timely topics in an effort to reach a mass reading class, leaving an amusing record of early American culture. Later, Franklin directed his talents toward serving his country. Regardless of its origin, the best of Benjamin Franklin's humor transcends its initial purpose and continues to evoke undying laughter at shared human experiences.

Benjamin Franklin's Humor

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

University Press of Kentucky

Facsimiles and transcriptions, with commentary on these two important documents.

Lincoln's Legacy: The Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address

Lincoln, Abraham

Huntington Library Pr

Dolley Madison (Presidential Wives Series)

Nova Science Pub Inc

One of the most beloved first ladies of all time, Dolley Madison was also, arguably the most well known and influential woman of her era. Presiding over the social affairs of both her husband's two terms in the 'President's House' and Jefferson's presidency, Dolley asserted her influence over the nation's social affairs like no presidential spouse before or after her. From her heroic rescue of priceless items from the White House just minutes before the British set the building aflame in the War of 1812, to her redesign of the building for both political and social functionality, to her trend-setting but risque taste in fashion, Dolley Madison remains one of the nation's most fascinating public figures from history.

Dolley Madison (Presidential Wives Sereis)

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Books by Zall, Paul M.