BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  JUL 31, 2026

Normally, important anniversaries such as the Fourth of July, or national crises such as 9/11, tend to reignite national pride, patriotic fervor, and a temporary truce between political combatants.

There has been that. In my neighborhoods, there were backyard parties, fireworks (some I am not sure were legal), and porches draped in patriotic bunting. Old Glory waved from the front door frames. A couple of streets close by were lined with small flags all along the block.

Now, here comes that overused qualifier…In spite of that…

It was unlike the 1976 Bicentennial. I fortunately got to observe that 4th celebration from the White House South Lawn as a new and naïve member of the Gerald Ford What House staff.

Even though the nation was amid turmoil—the end of the Vietnam War; social and racial unrest; a bad economy (President Ford’s slogan was Whip Inflation Now, replete with WIN buttons); and a Richard Nixon hangover—there was a national calm and a sense that our worst days were behind us. President Ford made speeches, but his purpose was to keep the focus off of him and on the country. Continue reading →