From The Library of Congress: Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson
Found at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Benjamin_Franklin_Joins_the_Revolution.html

On the birthday of the Declaration of Independence, I say we salute the founding fathers and mothers of the USA for their writing and vocabulary talents. The ability to express themselves convincingly in writing was responsible for inspiring thousands to be with them and against them. If it's true as experts say that a large precise vocabulary is the number one attribute of successful executives, these people exemplify this fact.

Let's just look at a few of these people.

John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson are three men we can peruse (which means to study in detail) were the three men chosen to draft the Declaration of Independence. The three men drafted the document between June 7 (my son's birthday), 1776, when the idea of separation was ratified (approved by vote) at the Continental Congress, and July 4, 1776, when the document was signed by the famous group of leaders.

John Adams was trained in law and spent much time before and after the Declaration of Independence writing newspaper editorials fomenting (inciting) separation from England. 

Benjamin Franklin was 70 years old when he was invited to join the Continental Congress a year before the Declaration was signed. Public speaking did not come easily to him, but writing was a strength. He apparently sat mostly silent in the meetings for awhile, contemplating whether to completely support separation, and at last he did. His wisdom and writing capabilities were key to the document's development.

Thomas Jefferson also was trained in law and was an eloquent speaker as well as a prolific writer, making him the writer and editor in chief of the Declaration. This should make us all look into Toastmasters. Power executives must also be good public speakers. Jefferson was probably a genius with one of the top IQs of all time, expert in many subjects and a passionate advocate of universal free public education.

I think discussions between women and men shaped the founding documents of our country. During the Revolutionary War, John Adams exchanged letters with his brilliant wife Abigail, who was the home executive in charge of the family homestead while he was away. John Adams became our first ambassador to England, and again exchanged many letters with his wife, whom we can call a founding mother. These collections of letters are available in books and are worthy of perusal. Abigail urged her husband not to forget the women in developing our country's first governance documents...however, women had to wait a few hundred years for that advice to be heeded.

Today's topic made me think of a great company appropriate to promote today: Men with Pens. The marketing for this company seems to capture in modern form a bit of the spirit of Ben Franklin, who was a bit of an irreverant and authority questioning type of guy.

Men and women with pens (which we can metaphorically consider any tool for communicating ideas) who know how to use them are indeed powerful, and the saying that the pen is mightier than the sword seems very true. The pen often gets things started.