{"id":20038,"date":"2026-07-05T13:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T19:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/?p=20038"},"modified":"2026-07-05T15:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T21:02:08","slug":"op-ed-celebrating-america250","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/op-ed-celebrating-america250\/","title":{"rendered":"Op-Ed: Celebrating America250"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every now and then, we reach a moment in history that causes us to stop and recognize its significance. I can still vividly remember celebrating America\u2019s 200th birthday in 1976. It was my senior year of high school, and my Southern belle dress won top prize and landed me on the front page of the Springfield News-Leader<\/em>. It was the best of times!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two hundred fifty years is an amazing achievement for a nation. In 1776, English settlers from Virginia, Massachusetts, and the rest of the colonies put their names on a document that would change the world. They not only declared their independence from Great Britain, but also set forth a new philosophy of liberty, of government by the people and for the people, and of something never before seen in human history: a new nation based not on ancient claims or the divine right of kings, but on a people coming together of their own accord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans have always been conscious of our place in history, and on this 250th anniversary of our independence, it\u2019s important to strengthen our connection to those who came before us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on our nation\u2019s 50th anniversary\u2014a day on which both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, our second and third presidents and both signers of the Declaration of Independence, passed away\u2014President John Quincy Adams wrote, \u201cHow resplendent and sublime is the transition from gloom to glory!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1876, Ulysses Grant (our nation\u2019s second Republican president) noted how \u201cthirteen colonies and three millions of people have expanded into a nation of strength and numbers commanding the position which was then asserted, for which fervent prayers were then offered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1926, celebrating our 150th birthday, President Calvin Coolidge (another Republican, mind you) looked back and said, \u201cThe Continental Congress was not only composed of great men, but it represented a great people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, in 1976, President Gerald Ford (also a Republican!) spoke at the National Archives of the enduring greatness of our Declaration of Independence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The Declaration and other great documents of our heritage remind me of the flying machines across the Mall in the new museum we opened yesterday. From the Spirit of St. Louis to the lunar orbital capsules, we see vehicles that enabled Americans to cross vast distances in space. In our archives and in our libraries, we find documents to transport us across centuries in time\u2014back to Mount Sinai and the Sea of Galilee, to Runnymede, to the pitching cabin of the Mayflower, and to sweltering Philadelphia in midsummer, 1776.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It is altogether fitting that another great Republican president is overseeing our 250th anniversary. President Donald Trump has risen to the occasion with celebrations in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country unlike any we have seen before\u2014and unlike any we will see again in our lifetimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of our country continues, and you and I have a part to play in writing it. In the coming years, we will see new advancements in AI, nuclear power, and the exploration of space, and we will continue to defend the ideals of liberty first put down on paper 250 years ago this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy Independence Day from the Idaho GOP, and here\u2019s to another 250 years of America!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every now and then, we reach a moment in history that causes us to stop and recognize its significance. I can still vividly remember celebrating America\u2019s 200th birthday in 1976. It was my senior year of high school, and my Southern belle dress won top prize and landed me on the front page of the Springfield […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":19813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[243],"tags":[448],"class_list":["post-20038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions-op-eds","tag-independence-day","cat-243-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20038"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20039,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20038\/revisions\/20039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}