Making Friends: Benjamin Franklin and America’s First Public Diplomacy Campaign

Before the United States could win its independence, it had to convince the world that the American experiment was worth supporting.

The thirteen colonies had no navy, no national treasury, and little credibility among Europe’s great powers. Defeating the British Empire would require more than success on the battlefield. The revolutionaries needed weapons, loans, trade, diplomatic recognition, and powerful foreign allies. They also had to persuade European leaders and ordinary citizens that a collection of rebellious colonies could become a stable and successful nation.

In this episode of America at 250: Due Diligence, Bill Bernardoni and Steve Herman present an edited version of a panel recorded at a Public Diplomacy Council of America forum at George Washington University. Cultural critic Martha Bayles, public diplomacy scholar Dr. Caitlin Schindler, and author Eric Weiner examine how Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and other American representatives practiced public diplomacy long before the term existed.

Bayles explores the sharply different diplomatic styles of Franklin and Adams. Franklin arrived in France already celebrated as a scientist, inventor, and writer. His plain clothing, fur cap, wit, manners, and carefully cultivated public image allowed him to appear both distinctly American and perfectly at home among the French elite. Adams was less comfortable with the customs and excesses of the French court, but his skepticism about power and human nature reflected another important strand of the American political tradition.

Schindler explains how Franklin and his colleagues used the eighteenth century’s most powerful communications technology—the printing press—to combat British propaganda and influence European opinion. They developed relationships with foreign publishers, placed information in European newspapers, and arranged translations of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and state constitutions. Those documents did more than explain the reasons for the Revolution. They helped demonstrate that the emerging country possessed the political institutions and stability necessary to become a credible ally, trading partner, and investment.

Weiner presents Franklin as America’s first international celebrity and one of the Revolution’s most effective diplomatic operators. Franklin worked with the limited resources available to him, understood how the French viewed the conflict, built relationships in salons and scientific societies, used humor to disarm opponents, and appealed to the larger ideals behind the American cause. He also knew when not to respond, sometimes waiting 24 hours before sending an angry letter—and frequently deciding not to send it at all.

The panel considers what Franklin’s approach can teach the United States today, particularly his preference for softer language, his ability to maintain relationships across political and religious differences, and his understanding that influence often depends on listening, adapting, and seeing the world through another person’s eyes.

Questions from the audience expand the discussion to the American Revolution’s influence on France, the global reach of American popular culture, the founders’ possible reaction to modern political discourse, relations with Native American nations, the overlooked roles of women during the Revolution, and the eventual creation of a professional United States Foreign Service.

It is the story of how a country that did not yet officially exist persuaded the world to take it seriously—and how Benjamin Franklin helped transform a vulnerable rebellion into an international cause.