This medal commemorates Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. Earning the title of "The First American," Franklin was a true renaissance man. He was a defender of the American way of life, and was not happy with Britain's rule of the colonies. While too old to be a fighting patriot (Franklin was 70 years old when the Revolution began), he was a statesman and diploma of the colonies, and was instrumental in securing help from the French during the war. Throughout his life, Franklin was a successful author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. He was instrumental in the writing of the Declaration of Independence, and was helpful with the writing of the Constitution. The obverse of the medal shows the bust of Franklin facing left, and the reverse shows four allegorical figures; muses representing Philosophy, Literature, Science, and Patriotism.