The Grandstander is going to take a break from the Fun & Games of Life upon which he usually opines and turn serious and introspective for a moment. He'll be back for his usual nonsense soon. Please bear with me.
In the days leading up to July 4, 2026, our Semi-Quincentennial, as it is officially categorized, I found myself looking back to fifty years ago when we celebrated the nation's Bicentennial. I was 24 years old at the time, and I certainly remember all of the hoopla that surrounded the event. Remember the "Bicentennial Minute" that aired every night on national television for two years leading up the July 4, 1976? I do. It was a happy and a joyous occasion. Gerald Ford was the President of the United States at the time. The circumstances of how Jerry Ford became our 38th President were in fact a testimony to our system of government and our Constitution.
I found myself thinking of President Ford over these past several days, and I honestly had no memory of him as it related to the events surrounding the Bicentennial celebrations. I figured that he no doubt made a Presidential speech somewhere to celebrate the occasion, but I know that he did not make the occasion all about himself. Didn't demand, say, that the government issue celebratory currency with his likeness upon it.
Well, the internet which didn't exist in 1976, made it very easy to learn about what the President did that day. He traveled to Philadelphia and stood before Independence Hall where he delivered THIS SPEECH to the American people. The speech lasted for all of eighteen minutes. At no point did the President talk about himself or make any mention of his immediate predecessors, or of any other contemporary government figures. At no point did he talk about Jerry Ford. He even made it a point, as he began his remarks, to thank Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp and Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, neither of whom were of the same political party as Ford, for their hospitality in extending to him the invitation to speak in Philadelphia.
I urge you to click on the link above and take the eighteen minutes to listen to Ford's remarks of July 4, 1976. I have only read about the comments made in a 75 minute speech last night by the 47th President, but I am confident in saying that America would have been better served had the national news outlets simply replayed President Ford's speech from fifty years ago.
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