Josh,
I really agree that this is a very vague term. I agree people like Washington, Franklin and Adams are definatly FF, however, I think there are others, though not well known who are just as important. I mentioned him before but for my money the first person who should always be called a FF is Roger Sherman! He is the only man to sign the Articles of Association, the Declaration, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution! What more could anybody of his time do? Now didn’t become a president like Washington, Adams and Jefferson, and he wasn’t a world inventor like Franklin, but for my money he is just as important! For that matter, men like James Wilson, Robert Morris (though both men fell on financial trouble later in their lives) and George Clymer all signed both the Declaration and the Constitution, why then is a upstart like Hamilton more important then them, I have yet to find a answer. Now if say Franklin had some hard times near the end of his life would we still have remembered him for everything he had done? I go back to Robert Morris, this man virtually bankrolled the entire Revolution, even paying out of his own pockets to keep the army together before the crossing of the Delaware!
There are more to the FF then just the big names.