For America250, which Declaration signer was the oldest at age 70?

For America250, Benjamin Franklin was the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence, at age 70.

Franklin was born in Boston in 1706 and had already built a long career as a printer, publisher, scientist, inventor, and diplomat by 1776. His age and reputation gave him unusual authority among the revolutionary leaders gathered in Congress.

He served on the Committee of Five that reviewed Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration. Franklin also helped secure French support for the American cause and later negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War.

Franklin is sometimes remembered only as a colonial scientist, but his political work was central to independence. He was the only Founding Father who signed all four major documents associated with the American founding: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris, and the United States Constitution.