This portrait of Benjamin Franklin by artist Benjamin Wilson was displayed in the Roosevelt Room during the John F. Kennedy administration. Wilson's portrait is the earliest of the three portraits of Franklin in the White House Collection. Franklin was a renowned author, inventor and philosopher who was also one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He also served as the representative of the United States in France during the Revolutionary War. Franklin commissioned the portrait in 1758 while he was in London to argue for the right to tax the Penn family estate. Until the American Revolution, the painting hung in Franklin's Philadelphia home. However, while Franklin was in France, the home was occupied by British troops and one of them took the portrait when they left. It was returned to the United States via President Theodore Roosevelt by Albert Henry, the fourth Earl Grey in 1906, the bicentennial of Franklin's birth. In addition to being a painter, Wilson was an inventor who worked with electricity, much as Franklin did. This may account for the lightning bolt visible in the background of the portrait.

This portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Wilson is the earliest of the three portraits of Franklin in the White House Collection. Franklin was a renowned author, inventor and philosopher who was also one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He also served as the representative of the United States in France during the Revolutionary War. Franklin commissioned the portrait in 1758 while he was in London to argue for the right to tax the Penn family estate. Until the American Revolution, the painting hung in Franklin's Philadelphia home. However, while Franklin was in France, the home was occupied by British troops and one of them took the portrait when they left. It was returned to the United States via President Theodore Roosevelt by Albert Henry, the fourth Earl Grey in 1906, the bicentennial of Franklin's birth. In addition to being a painter, Wilson was an inventor who worked with electricity, much as Franklin did. This may account for the lightning bolt visible in the background of the portrait.