through history , Fourth of July It was a day for some presidents to declare their independence from the public. They bailed out to the beach, the mountains, the golf course, the ranch, and the ranch. In the middle of the Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt was sailing to Hawaii on a hunting and business vacation.
It was also a day for some presidents to insert themselves front and center into the fabric of it all.
Teddy Roosevelt drew hundreds of thousands of people to his Fourth of July address. John F Kennedy led a large crowd from Independence Hall in Philadelphia. in 2019, Donald Trump muster tanks, Bombers and other war machines for a celebration that usually avoids military muscle.
Richard Nixon angered the anti-war masses without showing up. As the anti-Nixon demonstrations in 1970 showed, Independence Day in D.C. isn’t always just about fun and games. She has a tradition of red, white, and boos, too.
Lately, however, presidents have tended to back off and let the people celebrate.
George W. Bush held a ceremony to welcome the immigrants as new citizens. Barack Obama held a barbecue on the Troops South Lawn. Bill Clinton went to the shores of the Chesapeake Bay to watch a young bald eagle named Freedom being released into the wild.
In 2021, Joe Biden gathered more than 1,000 people on the South Lawn of the White House to eat burgers and watch fireworks. This event was noteworthy because Such gatherings were unimaginable In the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. Many wished Biden hadn’t considered doing so even then — the frenzy of the omicron COVID-19 variant was ahead.
However, the burger was an improvement from July 4, 1850, when Zachary Taylor apparently made a cherry-and-milk smoothie (and He died five days later ).
Look what Some bosses did On the Fourth of July:
1777: On the first anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, with the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the future president, John Adams, describes a day and night of spontaneous celebration in Philadelphia in a letter to his wife, Abigail. After hours of parades of troops, pyrotechnics, bonfires, and music, he tells her he walked alone in the dark.
He writes, “I was walking in the streets to get a little fresh air and exercise, and was surprised to find the whole town lighting its candles in the windows. I walked most of the evening, and I thought it was the most wonderful illumination I ever saw; some of the dark houses were dark. But the lights were so universal.” Considering the delay of design and the suddenness of execution, I was amazed at the general joy and liveliness with which they were discovered, and the brilliance and splendor of every part of this delightful exhibition.”
1791: Two years after becoming the first president, George Washington celebrates in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with “address, fine dining, and walks all over town,” says the National Park Service. Philadelphia was the temporary capital as the city of Washington was ready. Lancaster hosted the Continental Congress for a quick session during the Revolution.
1798: Now President, Adams reviews a military parade in Philadelphia as the young nation flexes its muscles.
1801: Thomas Jefferson presides over the Fourth of July public reception at the White House.
1822: James Monroe stops by on his Virginia plantation.
1826: Adams, the second president, and Jefferson the third, die on the Fourth of July.
1831: James Monroe, who was the fifth president, dies on the Fourth of July.
1848: James Polk witnesses the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington Monument with Abraham Lincoln, then an Illinois congressman, in attendance. A military parade follows.
1850: Taylor attended festivities in Washington’s Monument Square and developed stomach cramps after eating cherries and drinking iced milk and water. He died on July 9. The theory that someone poisoned him with arsenic was debunked in 1991 when his body was exhumed and tested.
1861: Lincoln sends a message to Congress defending his recall of the powers of war, calling for more troops to fight the South and attack Virginia to allow “this gigantic rebellion to make its nest within its borders.” He vows to “move forward without fear.”
1868: After the war, Andrew Johnson executes a proclamation granting amnesty to those who fought for the Confederacy.
1902: Teddy Roosevelt speaks to 200,000 people in Pittsburgh.
I like big things; Big parades, big forests, mountains, big wheat fields, railroads – and herds of cattle too; Big factories, steamboats, and everything else. But we must steadfastly bear in mind that no one has benefited yet
1914: Right or wrong, Woodrow Wilson declares at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
1928: Calvin Coolidge (born July 4, 1872) goes trout fishing in Wisconsin.
1930: Herbert Hoover vacations on the banks of the Rapidan River in Virginia.
1934: Franklin Roosevelt was in or near the Bahamas after leaving Annapolis, Maryland for a month-long trip and visiting Hawaii via the Panama Canal. On July 4, the log of the USS Houston refers to a “fishing party” leaving the ship for part of the day.
1946: With World War II raging during the previous year, Harry Truman relaxes in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains at Roosevelt’s Shangri-La Resort, later renamed Camp David.
1951: With the United States at war in Korea, Truman addresses a huge crowd in Washington’s Monument Square, on the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
1953 and 1957: Dwight Eisenhower = Golf.
1962: In the Cold War era, Kennedy tells a large crowd in Philadelphia that communities around the world are struggling for freedom from oppression and that his nation “has no intention of relinquishing its leadership in that global movement for independence.”
1968: Lyndon Johnson, who preferred his Texas ranch for the holidays, spoke in San Antonio about the lack of independence of the poor, minorities, the sick, people “who should breathe polluted air,” and those who live in fear of crime, “despite our Fourth of July speech ( July) “.
1970: Nixon, in California, recorded a message played to fans at the National Mall at an “American Honor Day” celebration organized by supporters and vehemently protested by anti-war crowds and civil rights activists. Tear gas overwhelms protesters and revelers alike, Vietcong flags mingle with the stars and stripes, and protesters – some naked – plunge into the reflecting pool.
1976: As the United States turns 200, Gerald Ford speaks at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, then Independence Hall, and reviews the fleet of tall ships in New York Harbor.
1987: Ronald Reagan, at Camp David, makes a candid political statement in his recess radio address, introducing the economic “Bill of Rights” and Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. On Saturdays, it served as his weekly radio address, which he and other talking heads used for their agendas.
2008: Bush, like many presidents before him, hosts a naturalization ceremony. More than 70 people from 30 countries have been adopted as new citizens.
2010: Obama brings 1,200 soldiers to South Lawn for a barbecue. On the Fourth of July, baby Malia’s father joked that she always thought the D.C. fireworks were for her.
2012: Obama brings together Fourth of July traditions—a celebration of soldiers and new citizens—by honoring the naturalization of U.S. military personnel who came to the country as immigrants.
2017: Trump goes to his golf club, then hosts a White House picnic for military families.
2021: Biden says the crowd On the South Lawn “We are closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus.” It was the biggest event of his presidency since taking office. COVID-19 cases and deaths have fallen to or near record lows at that point, but will rebound as the omicron variant spreads.
2023: Biden returns from a weekend in Delaware to address members of the National Education Association before an evening gala in South Lawn with service members, veterans and their families.
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Writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
