What if...Benjamin "The First American" Fanklin Fought Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt?

In case you didn't catch my last post, this is a prompt from a writing generator. I said that I would actually write on one of them this time, so here it is, from the "what if" section: "What if...Benjamin Franklin fought Theodore Roosevelt?" This one caught my attention, and I started to think about the parameters of the fight. I decided that each fighter would be represented by himself at his prime, and notified several weeks to a few months before the fight was to take place. This way, the fight would be as exciting and unambiguous as possible.

Next, I wondered whether there was even enough information on Franklin to draw a reasonably sound conclusion. Before I did any research, I would've said Roosevelt 100 percent, solely based on his reputation. Imagine Theodore Roosevelt--what do you see? I see him outdoors, climbing a mountain, or hunting a bear, or riding a horse. When I imagine Benjamin Franklin...I see a friendly and portly old man, sitting at his desk reading or writing. I assume that's basically what most people would think, since Franklin is well-known for many things, but not his athleticism or physique, though this could partially be due to his overwhelming number of achievements overshadowing other aspects of his life. Regardless of the reason, I can now say that that image of Franklin is absolutely not representative of him in fighting condition. Still, after my research, my opinion is that under most conditions, the fight would probably go to Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, though it would be much closer than most would have assumed.

Franklin was not always old (obviously) and pot-bellied--the drawing above is of Franklin in his youth, from his autobiography. If anything, in terms of size and physique, I would probably give a slight edge to Franklin! Franklin as a young man is described as "muscular, barrel-chested, and almost six feet tall" with other sources reporting his height at 5'10", so we'll go with 5'10" to 6" for his height. Below is a picture of Roosevelt in his youth, and from the looks of it, before he bulked up. Roosevelt's reported height ranges from 5'8" to 5'10", and reported weight ranges from 185 lbs. to 200 lbs. Based on paintings and statues of Franklin, I think it would be acceptable to put him in the same weight-class as Roosevelt, assuming that both are in their prime and in the best condition for a fight.

Both men possessed excellent conditioning in their youth. Franklin through manual labor and swimming, Roosevelt with weight-lifting, hiking and boxing. Most people would probably give a huge advantage to Roosevelt for his boxing experience. It actuallly is very impressive, as he was runner-up in the Harvard Boxing Championships. However, it was also through boxing that Roosevelt almost lost sight in one eye completely. Whether he would be considered to be in his prime before or after the injury is unknown. And while Roosevelt reportedly suffered from asthma as a frail and sickly boy, I don't think it would be considered to be a factor past childhood, as he went on to climb the Matterhorn after he graduated. Franklin's own achievement in his sport of choice is also extremely impressive, as he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. If we assume similar levels of conditioning, the principle of specificity would dictate that Roosevelt would be more conditioned for fighting (at least for striking), so he takes the lead here.

In combat experience, I would give the advantage to Roosevelt again. Not only because of his boxing experience, but also because of his military experience, which includes his time as assistant secretary of the Navy, a position which he resigned from so that he could establish the Rough Riders, which he temporarily took command of a battle. Surprisingly, Franklin also saw some experience in the military, and was reported to be an able commander, and took advantage of his own strengths by contributing ideas that optimized his fighting forces. Still, Roosevelt clearly takes the advantage here, with an abundance of varying combat experience.

I believe Franklin's best chance is to catch up during the training period. Since each man is notified of the fight well in advance, they have enough time to do some serious training (a few months). What impressed me the most about Franklin was his extraordinarily shrewd insights on training (and most other things). The quotes that we attribute to him, such as, "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise," and "No gains without pains," are classics because they've withstood the test of time. But observations like this, “The amount of exercise should be judged not by time or distance [but by] the degree of warmth it produces in the body.” seem to be far ahead of his time. Given sufficient time and motivation, his intellect could probably develop a training program that would deliver results beyond most people's expectations.

If I had to decide at this point, I would probably say that the chances are close to 50/50. But there's one more factor that tipped it over to Roosevelt--he embraced fighting and took pride in manly pursuits. This is a quote from Roosevelt, referring to his own sons: "I would rather have one of them die then to have them grow up weaklings." And again, the fact that he left his position of assistant secretary of the Navy to start the Rough Riders is further evidence of more than just willingness to engage in combat. Finally, at the age of 58, he went to Woodrow Wilson to request permission to be sent to the front lines of World War--this story is the perfect example of his fighting spirit, which apparently never left him.

So there it is, all the information I used to make my pick. What do you guys think? Benjamin "The First American" Franklin or Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt?

sources:

http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2012/09/the-ben-franklin-diet.html
https://archive.org/stream/truebenjaminfra00fishgoog/truebenjaminfra00fishgoog_djvu.txt
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-ben-franklin-met-the-battlefield-65116256/
https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/famously-fit-nerds/
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/02/04/lessons-in-manliness-the-childhood-of-theodore-roosevelt/
https://millercenter.org/president/roosevelt/life-before-the-presidency
http://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-teddy-roosevelt