There is no doubt that a democracy and a republic are different. Our founders knew and understood this difference. This knowledge helped them to sculpt chip by chip the eventual guiding principles for the United States of America and to reveal those principles as more than mere words. Consider these two quotes from men who were there when it all began. At the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a lady asked Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Well Dr. what have we got a republic or a monarchy?" "A republic replied the Dr. "if you can keep it." John Adams, our secnd President, also spoke clearly when he was asked about democracy. "Democracy while it lasts is more bloody (sic) than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that does not commit suicide."