Here's how presidents celebrated the Fourth
Happy Birthday, America. Most Americans are celebrating today, with picnics, fireworks, and friendly congregation. Like Taft and Eisenhower, President Trump is playing golf at one of his resorts, according to a White House press release.
Which got me wondering, how do presidents spend the Fourth? American University Librarian James Heintze answered that, using newspaper reports dating back to our very first Commander in Chief. Most have simply worked; several were ill. Others spent the Fourth on speeches, fireworks, and parades. But that’s not all:
Washington: Caught up on correspondence, and attended church.
Jefferson: Began a tradition of hosting public receptions at the Executive Mansion
Van Buren: Attended a children’s school festival in New York
(Poor) Taylor: Became fatally ill after eating a bowl of cherries at a Washington Monument ceremony.
Pierce: Reinstated a post office employee who was fired
Lincoln: Called extraordinary session of Congress to discuss trouble in the South; later, mostly military ceremonies
Johnson: Granted amnesty to the Confederates
Grant: An international focus — the Treaty of Washington (resolving disputes with Britain), and received a German minister with the Emperor’s message
Wilson: On July 4, 1915, while on a drive he stopped to help victims of a car wreck
Harding: Celebrated 80th anniversary of the arrival of first immigrants in Oregon
Coolidge: Planted a willow tree near Washington’s grave
F. Roosevelt: A bit of everything, including visiting farms, picnics, and church fairs; and one year, a Bahamas vacation
Truman: A monuments focus — at the Washington Monument, at Monticello denouncing Soviet policy, laying a wreath at Jefferson’s tomb, and dedicating a statue of Simon Bolivar. Plus a baseball game in 1952 — perhaps not a monument, but an American tradition.
Kennedy: Gave the Medal of Freedom to 31 people; expanded the Peace Corps
Reagan: Welcomed returning astronauts at Edwards Air Force Base; in 1984, kicked off a stock car race by airborne telephone from Air Force One. In 1992 Bush Sr. also started one at Daytona.
Clinton: Rang the Liberty Bell; witnessed the release of an American Eagle named “Freedom”
G.W. Bush: Went to a giant Baptist block party, recited the Pledge of Allegiance, and presided over naturalization ceremonies for new U. S. citizens from 30 countries
Obama: Hosted barbecues for thousands of soldiers on the White House lawn
As Vice President Adlai Stevenson said: “America is much more than a geographical fact. It is a political and moral fact — the first community in which men set out in principle to institutionalize freedom, responsible government, and human equality.”
However we celebrate the Fourth and our great fortune to live here, here’s hoping we exemplify those principles year round.
And maybe skip the cherries.
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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network who’d rather have watermelon anyway. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com