Distinguished
Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: Among the honors that have come to me, the invitation to be the guest speaker at the Annual Meeting of The Franklin Institute on the birthday of Benjamin Franklin is one of the greatest, if not the greatest. I shall cherish it all my life and I shall always be grateful to you for this great honor you have extended to me.
Tonight, when I met all these distinguished guests--educators, scientists, military men, and others--I felt more and more humble in their presence. I am reminded of an episode I saw in this Hall in 1935, when Professor Einstein was given the Franklin Medal. I arrived with great expectations of hearing a pronouncement of an important new advance in science. Many other scientists from all over the country had come to listen to this great and humble gentleman. When he received the Franklin Medal, the highest honor that the Institute can give, he said "Thank you" and sat down.
That, I thought, was one of the biggest anticlimaxes that I had ever had the opportunity to witness. I remember that, and I wish I could emulate his example.
To me, Benjamin Franklin represents the greatest American of his day and probably the greatest American in the entire history of our country. He was not only to my mind the greatest American; he was also one of the greatest men of the eighteenth century and of all times. He was one of those universal men, of whom there are very few in the entire course of our history. There were a few such men in the Renais-