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The
Daily Signal
‘We
Have Not Forgotten’: Presidents on the Fourth of July
Kelsey
Harkness
July
04, 2014
In a
letter to his wife Abigail the day before the American colonies
publicly justified their independence from Great Britain, John Adams
predicted the occasion would be celebrated as “the great
anniversary festival” for years to come.
Of
the birth of a new nation in July 1776, the future second president
of the United States wrote, “the day ought to be solemnized with
pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires,
and illuminations.”
More
than two centuries later, Americans uphold that tradition,
celebrating a country built on principles of free enterprise, limited
government, and individual and religious freedom. For this
Independence Day, here’s a look back at what some presidents had to
say in honor of this historic day.
“We
are called to remember how unlikely it was that our American
experiment would succeed.” – President Barack Obama, 2009, at The
White House
“Thomas
Jefferson once said he’d rather celebrate the Fourth of July than
his own birthday. For me, it’s pretty simple – the Fourth of July
weekend is my birthday weekend.” – President George W. Bush,
2008, at Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, in Charlottesville,
Va.
“From
the beginning our people have always known that government could not
solve all the problems and that all citizens had to be responsible to
build this nation together.” – President Bill Clinton, 1993,
steps of Independence Hall in Philadelphia
United
States President-elect George H.W. Bush and Vice President-elect Dan
Quayle return to Andrews Air Force Base, just outside Washington,
D.C. after winning the 1988 Presidential Election on November 9,
1988.
“We
have not forgotten that we are one nation under God, and that’s an
important thing to point out on July 4th. … The American people
really have mountains of faith. And I believe the God who gave us
life also gave us liberty.”– President George H. W. Bush, 1992,
Legion Park, Faith, N.C.
“There
have been revolutions before and since ours. But those revolutions
simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution
that changed the very concept of government.” – President Ronald
Reagan, 1981, U.S.S. John F. Kennedy in New York Harbor
“[W]e
who are gathered at this same hall … declare now our vow to do our
part to lift the weights from the shoulders of all, to join other men
and nations in preserving both peace and freedom, and to regard any
threat to the peace or freedom of one as a threat to the peace and
freedom of all.” – President John F. Kennedy, 1962, at
Independence Hall in Philadelphia
“If
my message to you on this Fourth of July could be put into one
sentence, it would be this: State the facts of freedom and trust in
God, as we have ever done.” – President Dwight D. Eisenhower,
1959, in national radio broadcast
“In
1776 we waged war in behalf of the great principle that government
should derive its just powers from the consent of the governed. …
In the century and a half that followed, this cause of human freedom
swept across the world.” – President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1941,
at Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York
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