Franklin specializes in the politics of the American presidency. He also teaches courses on economic justice in the American context, film and politics and American government, and Georgia state politics. He is currently working on a book titled, Pitiful Giants: Presidents in their Final Terms. He is also author of Extraordinary Measures: Prerogative Powers in the United States, Making Ends Meet: Congressional Budgeting in the Age of Deficits, and Politics and Film: The Political Culture of Film in the United States.