班傑明．富蘭克林被譽為「美國第一個偉人」。
富蘭克林出身平凡之家，家裡窮得繳不起學費，儘管如此貧寒，但他卻不以為意，透過持之以恆的自我奮鬥，最終取得了舉世矚目的成就。這種從貧窮到富裕、從卑微到偉大的自我實現歷程，充份體現了人們對「美國夢」的追尋；可以說，富蘭克林是實現「美國夢」最具代表性的人物之一。
富蘭克林的偉大或許無法複製，但他奮發向上繼而走向成功的心路歷程，讀者卻可加以學習。正如他的朋友在寫信給他時提到，他的自傳「將為自我激勵提供崇高的法則和典範」，使年輕人「早日意識到潛心事業、節儉生活以及自我克制的重要性」。
《富蘭克林自傳》不但具有崇高的文學價值，更開創現代西方自傳文學先河，成為傳記文學的典範。本書以平易近人的文風，敘述了富蘭克林艱苦創業、自學成才、堅持不懈的奮鬥過程，這一過程具備了偉大的感召力，使本書出版後就立即暢銷，並被尊為成功勵志的傳世經典，得到眾多成功學大師的一致推薦，被推崇為史上最動人和偉大的勵志讀本。閱讀此書，能激勵讀者不斷改進自己、完善自己。
Benjamin Franklin was an important conservative figure in the American Restoration Movement, especially as the leading antebellum conservative in the northern United States branch of the movement. He is notable as the early and lifelong mentor of Daniel Sommer, whose support of the 1889 Sand Creek Declaration set in motion events which led to the formal division of the Churches of Christ from the Disciples of Christ in 1906.
According to contemporary biographies "His early religious training was according to the Methodist faith, though he never belonged to any church until he united with the Disciples."
In 1856, Franklin began to publish the ultra-conservative American Christian Review, which he published until his death in 1878. Its influence, initially considerable, was said to have waned following the American Civil War. Franklin undertook a rigorous program of publication correspondence, and traveling lectures which took him to "many" U. S. states and Canada.
Franklin's last move was to Anderson, Indiana, where he lived from 1864 until his death.
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