Michael Douglas’ Benjamin Franklin Brings France Into the American Revolution in a New Apple TV+ Series [Video]

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Benjamin Franklin, the oldest of America’s Founding Fathers, was also arguably the most important in securing American independence, though he never led armies or became president of the United States, like George Washington. He was also 70 years old when he landed on the shores of France in 1776 with the singular goal of convincing the French it was in their best interest to join the war against Britain.

“Franklin,” a new limited series from Apple TV+, stars Michael Douglas as the Founding Father who risked his career — and maybe even his life — to secure French intervention in the war for America’s independence.

This new dramatization of Franklin’s most important diplomatic magnum opus is based on Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Stacy Schiff’s 2005 book about his eight years in France, “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.” In it, Schiff ascribes Franklin’s success to …