At the second Constitutional Congress, Benjamin Franklin was not well. In his 80s and affected by gout and kidney stones, some days he was carried into the room in a chair. On September 17, 1787, he was in so much pain that he could not even read the speech he had prepared. But he was there for the long debates and upon exiting, Elizabeth Willing Powel asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin’s reply? “A republic, if you can keep it.”
