Button Gwinnett

About this book

Button Gwinnett knew Congress planned to vote for independence in the summer of 1776, but he didn't care. He was deep in debt, and his plans for 1776 involved getting a job with a steady paycheck. He didn't get the job he wanted, and despite the fact that he wasn't involved in the independence movement in Georgia, he was given the opportunity to represent the colony in Congress. He served just long enough to sign the Declaration of Independence. For that reason -- and that reason alone -- we call him a Founding Father.Button Gwinnett: America's Accidental Founding Father tells the story of this fascinating and complicated man, whose life began in an English village near the Wales border and essentially ended in a cow pasture in Savannah, Ga. Gwinnett was obsessed with making money and he didn't have time for the independence movement. This book makes the case that Gwinnett was America's most selfish Founding Father.As we approach the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Americans should know who deserves the Founding Father label -- and who doesn't.