[From article]
the Fourth of July was never to be missed, but for this one—July 4, 1976—everything was a bit grander, operating on a larger scale.
That’s how it was around the country, too: a parade down Constitution Avenue in Washington, with Johnny Cash as grand marshal; a five-hour-long parade in Philadelphia, and the nation’s longest, by distance, in Los Angeles; a 225-ship armada from 30 nations in New York harbor; anArthur Fiedler-conducted concert on Boston’s Esplanade before an estimated 400,000 people.
[. . .]
it also sounded a genuine note of gratitude. What else could explain the hundreds of gifts that poured in to the White House from citizens around the country expressing love for the United States? President Gerald Ford accepted all the gifts on behalf of the American people
[. . .]
The Bicentennial was blessed with good timing, arriving on the heels of a long post-1960s hangover that culminated with two bleak closing acts, less than a year apart: the fall of an American president elected in large part to quell the previous decade’s disorder, and the fall of Saigon to the Communist North Vietnamese, bringing a tragic end to the war that had inspired much of the disorder.
[. . .]
After a long gaze inward, many concluded that the country and its republican traditions still looked pretty good.
That pride was reflected in the American Freedom Train, a 26-car locomotive loaded with historical exhibits and decorated in stars and stripes. It stopped in all 48 contiguous states from April 1, 1975, in Wilmington, Delaware, to December 31, 1976, in Miami.
[. . .]
it’s hard to imagine it happening again. The political battles alone—from what stops to make and what exhibits to include to whether to employ unionized workers or use renewable energy—would probably keep a twenty-first-century Freedom Train stranded in the station.
[. . .]
The Bicentennial gave the feeling of being swept up in a great commemoration, the magnitude of which united grownups who disagreed on other things. Today, it’s hard to find such unifying events; even national calamities only tear us further apart.
[. . .]
Our governing classes combine an invincible devotion to self-preservation with scorn or ignorance of the country’s governing principles and contempt for its people, who are increasingly set against one another. This is bad enough for those of mature age, but it’s poison for the young.
[. . .]
July Fourth where I grew up didn’t include a public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
[. . .]
George Washington’s counsel: “The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.” No matter our backgrounds, therein lies the path to strength and unity, if we’re still interested in such things.
http://www.city-journal.org/html/spirit-76-14603.html
Spirit of ‘76
Forty years on, America’s bicentennial cohesion may be unrecoverable.
Paul Beston
July 3, 2016
the Fourth of July was never to be missed, but for this one—July 4, 1976—everything was a bit grander, operating on a larger scale.
That’s how it was around the country, too: a parade down Constitution Avenue in Washington, with Johnny Cash as grand marshal; a five-hour-long parade in Philadelphia, and the nation’s longest, by distance, in Los Angeles; a 225-ship armada from 30 nations in New York harbor; anArthur Fiedler-conducted concert on Boston’s Esplanade before an estimated 400,000 people.
[. . .]
it also sounded a genuine note of gratitude. What else could explain the hundreds of gifts that poured in to the White House from citizens around the country expressing love for the United States? President Gerald Ford accepted all the gifts on behalf of the American people
[. . .]
The Bicentennial was blessed with good timing, arriving on the heels of a long post-1960s hangover that culminated with two bleak closing acts, less than a year apart: the fall of an American president elected in large part to quell the previous decade’s disorder, and the fall of Saigon to the Communist North Vietnamese, bringing a tragic end to the war that had inspired much of the disorder.
[. . .]
After a long gaze inward, many concluded that the country and its republican traditions still looked pretty good.
That pride was reflected in the American Freedom Train, a 26-car locomotive loaded with historical exhibits and decorated in stars and stripes. It stopped in all 48 contiguous states from April 1, 1975, in Wilmington, Delaware, to December 31, 1976, in Miami.
[. . .]
it’s hard to imagine it happening again. The political battles alone—from what stops to make and what exhibits to include to whether to employ unionized workers or use renewable energy—would probably keep a twenty-first-century Freedom Train stranded in the station.
[. . .]
The Bicentennial gave the feeling of being swept up in a great commemoration, the magnitude of which united grownups who disagreed on other things. Today, it’s hard to find such unifying events; even national calamities only tear us further apart.
[. . .]
Our governing classes combine an invincible devotion to self-preservation with scorn or ignorance of the country’s governing principles and contempt for its people, who are increasingly set against one another. This is bad enough for those of mature age, but it’s poison for the young.
[. . .]
July Fourth where I grew up didn’t include a public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
[. . .]
George Washington’s counsel: “The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.” No matter our backgrounds, therein lies the path to strength and unity, if we’re still interested in such things.
http://www.city-journal.org/html/spirit-76-14603.html
Spirit of ‘76
Forty years on, America’s bicentennial cohesion may be unrecoverable.
Paul Beston
July 3, 2016
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