Exactly two years from today, on July 4th, 2026, the United States of America will celebrate 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of our nation.
Those who remember the country’s Bicentennial celebrations in 1976 already know what to expect: huge nationwide celebrations with fireworks, parades, streets lined with flags and huge festivals held all over the country.
This time, symbolism and sentimentality will not be enough. Whoever wins the presidency must chart a path forward for our nation, a set of shared values that can inspire us to face an uncertain future.
The campaign celebrating the nation’s 500th anniversary already has an official name. America 250 — and its website promises an effort to “commemorate and celebrate our Nation’s 250th anniversary with comprehensive programming that inspires Americans to renew and strengthen our bold experiment in democracy.”
What happens next remains to be seen, but one of the strange realities of this celebration is that it will almost certainly depend in large part on the outcome of the 2024 election.
Neither President Biden nor President Trump seem convinced that this “bold experiment” is working so far, and both have taken every opportunity to express their disappointment.
The two leaders have differing views on why America is failing: Biden sees it as full of violent dissidents and unashamed racists, a product of a genocidal past; Trump sees it as a country corrupted by bureaucracy and foreign influence, and in need of renewal.
We look back on our bicentennial in 1976 as a year of joy and unity, but that year the country was also dealing with the aftermath of Watergate and the turmoil of the 1970s.
The year 2026 will be a time when the meaning of America will be more contested than ever, as reflected by cultural and political flashpoints large and small. The 1619 Project, Black Lives Matter, “Hamilton,” “White Fragility,” January 6. We will be met with protests, introspective anxiety, and uncertainty about the nature of the American experiment.
Today, America faces countless threats: rising inflation, a collapsing housing market, a crumbling education and health care system, declining birth rates, and unchecked mass immigration.
As if the election of President Trump in 2016 wasn’t enough, COVID-19 has provided undeniable evidence of just how divided our nation is, with half of us wanting to be left alone and the other half openly asking to contract a deadly disease and die.
Additionally, there are foreign policy issues that continue to threaten global stability and trade, including the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Israel, a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan, and tensions between North and South Korea.
America250 suggests an opportunity to ask some pressing questions about who we are. Are we the same republic that George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson built? Have we fallen beyond repair? Has the Constitution become a dead letter? Does America still want to be America? Or are we doomed to national suicide, decline, secession, and a bloody civil war?
Whoever wins the 2024 election will have to stand on the national stage on July 4th, 2026, and give a speech addressing this identity crisis.
This time, symbolism and sentimentality will not be enough. Whoever wins the presidency must chart a path forward for our nation, a set of shared values that can give us the courage to face an uncertain future.
As we head to the ballot box in November, we should ask ourselves which of these two candidates has the vision, the resolve, and the courage to tell America the hard truth: Unless we recapture some of the spirit that founded this great nation, there is very little chance that this country will survive to see our 300th anniversary in 2076.
