President Ford Kicked Off the Bicentennial July 4, 1975.

President Ford quoted President Lincoln. America is the last best hope of Earth.

President Gerald Ford Kicked Off the American Bicentennial celebration on July 4, 1975, speaking at Fort McHenry, the site of the Star Spangled Banner.  I was in law school at the University of Maryland, so I heard it live.

Here’s some of what he said.

The young Republic of yesteryear is today a strong and a very great nation. It still lives the values of the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. It influences the destiny of millions beyond our shores. It still remains, in Lincoln’s words, “The last, best hope of earth.”

Let us, this Fourth of July, continue to be a nation of hope. The American people believe in tomorrow–that by dawn’s early light our flag will still be there.

Let us be one nation and one people indivisible–for our flag is one and our destiny is one.

Let us be people of values–of liberty, equality, and justice–no matter what the cost. That has been our history, and we are proud of it.

PS

I got the best grade in the class in bankruptcy law. They gave me the Am Jur Award in bankruptcy that year.