{"id":437,"date":"2026-07-04T14:01:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=437"},"modified":"2026-07-04T14:01:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:01:02","slug":"why-independence-day-is-about-us-not-a-single-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=437","title":{"rendered":"Why Independence Day is About Us \u2014 Not a Single Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tAs an immigrant and later a citizen, more than 50 Fourths of July have taught me to love the day\u2019s exuberance \u2014 backyard barbecues, tailgate parties, and outings like sailing out on a small boat to join thousands on a sunlit lake. Parades and fireworks added flourish, but what I remember most was the communal revelry: neighbors and strangers laughing, sharing stories, sharing food, and marking the day together. Bright shirts and breezy shorts in flag colors offered a casual nod to the occasion. But rarely was there any talk of \u201cfreedom\u201d or \u201cliberty,\u201d much less the Declaration of Independence. Over time I came to understand that those founding republican principles had been turned into living rituals that bonded the community over shared values.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThere was no single authority dictating how the day was to be observed; each town, borough, and city had its own traditions. In the 1970s, as a reporter for a small New Jersey paper, I attended countless town meetings where mayors and planning boards deliberated on local affairs. In reporting my stories, I was struck by the vast local variations in the celebrations. Some honored veterans or local heroes with formal speeches; others celebrated with block parties or picnics; still others centered the day on fairs or municipal displays. Those with the means staged fireworks and live music. Each community, in its own way, embodied the character of the American republic \u2014 independent yet united in celebration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt seems this has been the way for at least two centuries. The French observer of America, Alexis de Tocqueville, witnessing a Fourth of July<\/a> celebration in 1831 in Albany, New York, recorded in his notebook how simple and sincere the event was, and noted: \u201cNo police, no authority anywhere.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThis year, that sense of communal unity feels at risk. President Donald Trump<\/a> is shaping the national spirit for celebration by declaring that he will be the main attraction as \u201cthe Greatest President in History.\u201d He will appear on commemorative gold coins described by the Treasury as \u201cthe enduring spirit of our country and democracy.\u201d There will be a celebration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with military bands and flyovers and musical performances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n\tWhat should be a unifying national commemoration of this special milestone is shaping up to be partisan pageantry celebrating the president\u2019s power and personality. The spectacle ignores what truly makes America exceptional at this quarter\u2011millennial moment: breakthroughs in biomedicine that save lives; advances in chip design and connectivity that are reshaping work and daily life; a richly funded higher education system that fosters independent inquiry and attracts global talent; and a financial\u2011capital ecosystem and entrepreneurial culture that turn bold ideas into products, businesses, and even civilian space ventures. The values that made all this possible should take center stage so as not to distract from the communal spirit that truly marks the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe leader of the nation has been known to set the tone and messaging on America\u2019s birthday. A study of other presidents\u2019 Fourth of July speeches shows a consistent theme that encouraged national unity. Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama all supported family\u2011oriented festivities mixing music, military honors, and calls for civic unity. Abraham Lincoln used public rhetoric on unity and national purpose; Franklin D. Roosevelt linked celebrations to broader policy and morale during the Depression and WWII; Dwight Eisenhower highlighted veterans, national institutions, and centrist unity; John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson combined inspirational rhetoric about civic duty and civil\u2011rights era themes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Fourth of July that was of much significance to me was the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in 1986. That was the day I became American. It was presided over by then\u2011President Ronald Reagan. He was also a polarizing figure, for his dislike for affirmative action, his civil\u2011rights enforcement, his heavy\u2011handed labor management, and his covert arms deals with Iran that led to charges of abuse of executive power had deeply divided the nation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tBut the pageantry to commemorate Lady Liberty centered on welcome and common purpose. \u201cBelieve me,\u201d Reagan told the nation, \u201cif there\u2019s one impression I carry with me after the privilege of holding for five and a half years the office held by Adams and Jefferson and Lincoln, it is this: that the things that unite us \u2014 America\u2019s past of which we\u2019re so proud, our hopes and aspirations for the future of the world and this much\u2011loved country \u2014 these things far outweigh what little divides us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tTrue to the spirit of the occasion, America organized ceremonies around the country at which thousands of migrants took the oath to become American; 300 were ferried to Ellis Island to swear allegiance under the watchful eyes of the Statue of Liberty, an immigrant herself. Lest any state of the union feel left out from her altar, each sent a representative to Ellis Island. I was among them, a citizen of India, representing the state of Michigan. We walked through cheering crowds, five and six rows deep, to an even bigger welcoming party: tall ships, U.S. frigates and carriers, and thousands of small pleasure boats packed in the harbor. Chief Justice Warren Burger administered the oath, and just as we finished our pledge the harbor erupted in cheers, foghorns, and fireworks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThere was not a dry eye around. I tearfully waved the little American flag I had clutched during the pledge of allegiance at the vast armada of humanity on the harbor \u2014 not simply because I had become American but because I was awed by America\u2019s capacity for generosity in welcoming us, many from war\u2011torn countries like Vietnam, Iraq, and Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThat day feels like a fleeting dream today. America is no longer the same; her generosity is frayed. Terror attacks at home and abroad have hardened public attitudes toward migrants. It hasn\u2019t helped that those who became Americans have remained silent or haven\u2019t raised their voices loudly enough to denounce terrorism exported from their old countries. At the same time, cultural change in America \u2014 debates over language, history, and memorials \u2014 has produced resentments. Some see sanitizing textbooks, removing statues, or elevating other languages as eroding a shared identity. Economic dislocation and political disconnection have only worsened the divisiveness over politics, race, culture, gender, immigration, and inequality \u2014 all wound tightly together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tTrump has promised to remake America, and he has been systematically dismantling existing norms and institutions.<\/p>\n

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\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tSupporters see his actions, though heavy\u2011handed, as necessary disruption. There is a temptation to cast such disruption in mythic terms. In Hindu mythology, the cosmos is governed by a triumvirate of three gods: Shiva, the destroyer; Brahma, the creator; and Vishnu, the maintainer. Shiva dances with a ring of flames and flattens the cosmos \u2014 with shared purpose \u2014 for Brahma to step in and create something better and hand over to Vishnu to maintain its balanced and harmonious state. To remake America, if disruptive change is to lead to constructive renewal, we must preserve the communal spirit that truly marks our July 4 each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAmal Naj is a former reporter for <\/em>The Wall Street Journal and the author of <\/em>Pandastic Times, an allegorical novel about the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As an immigrant and later a citizen, more than 50 Fourths of July have taught me to love the day\u2019s exuberance \u2014 backyard barbecues, tailgate parties, and outings like sailing out on a small boat to join thousands on a sunlit lake. Parades and fireworks added flourish, but what I remember most was the communal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fourth-of-july-essay.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[304,931,877,932],"class_list":["post-437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-day","tag-independence","tag-leader","tag-single"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}