The best known of the Founding Fathers are George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army during the Revolutionary War and first President of the United States (1789-1797); Benjamin Franklin, negotiator of the 1778 treaty of alliance with France and member of the committee in charge of drafting the Declaration of Independence; John Adams, negotiator of the 1783 peace treaty and second president of the United States (1797-1801); Thomas Jefferson main author of the Declaration of Independence, ambassador to Paris from 1785 to 1789 and third president of the United States (1801-1809); James Madison nicknamed "the father of the Constitution" (that of 1787, still in force) and fourth president of the United States (1809-1817).
In its generic sense, the expression refers to leaders who have, at one time or another, played a role in the revolution, the independence process and the building of institutions. So there are quite a few of them. The group notably includes the signatories of the Declaration of Independence of 1776 (the signers ), the framers of the 1787 Constitution (the framers ), all the members of successive Congresses from 1774 to 1787, and all those who wrote to defend the American cause or who represented its interests abroad.