A richly illustrated portrait of the Founding Father and first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury describes his experiences as an illegitimate orphan, soldier, friend, philanderer, political firebrand and financial whiz whose groundbreaking policies continue to shape today's American government. --Publisher

The Primary Source Readers series will ignite students' interest in history through the use of intriguing primary sources. This nonfiction reader features purposefully leveled text to increase comprehension for different learner types. Students will learn about the fascinating life and times of Benjamin Franklin. Text features include captions, a glossary, and an index to help build academic vocabulary and increase reading comprehension and literacy....

John Jay was the very first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. This engaging biography allows children to learn about Jay's long career in government--from governor of New York to Secretary of Affairs. The easy to read text and captivating images will have readers interested and eager to learn! This book also features a table of contents and a glossary for further understanding of the content.

A portrait of the complex man at the center of the Civil War.

The Constitution was two years old and the United States was in serious danger. Bitter political rivalry between former allies and two surging issues that inflamed the nation led to grim talk of breaking up the union. Then a single great evening achieved compromises that led to America's great expansion. This book celebrates Thomas Jefferson and his two guests, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, and the meal that saved the republic. In Dinner at...

1973 should have been Kissinger's year of triumph--a time to bask in his hard-won achievements and build on his successes. Kissinger's strategy of opening the door to China and détente with the Soviet Union had been judged an overwhelming success. After furthering his policy of realpolitik through backchannel diplomacy during Nixon's first term, Kissinger was finally awarded the plum position of Secretary of State. But then major events shattered...

Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us -- an ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings. In bestselling author Walter Isaacson's vivid and witty full-scale biography, we discover why Franklin turns to us from history's stage with eyes that twinkle from behind his new-fangled spectacles. In Benjamin Franklin, Isaacson shows how Franklin defines both his own time...

"From the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian comes a masterful, first-of-its-kind dual biography of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, illuminating their partnership's enduring importance. Theirs was a three-decade-long bond that, more than any other pairing, would forge the United States. Vastly different men, Benjamin Franklin--an abolitionist freethinker from the urban north--and George Washington--a slavehold­ing general from the agrarian...

Briefly explores the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton, highlighting his political influence, political rivalries, and the events that led up to his sensational death by duel.

An introduction to the life of young Benjamin Franklin describes how, as a rebellious teen in 1732, he ran away from his family and a Boston apprenticeship to Philadelphia, and how throughout subsequent decades he rose to become a distinguished statesman, renowned author and world-famous scientist.