Semiquincentennial Commences

from the Wall Street Journal

Countdown to America’s 250th Birthday

The U.S. was in a similarly disjointed mood heading into 1976 but pulled off a spectacular national party.

By Paul Beston

Fifty years ago, the U.S. was anticipating a major national anniversary only 12 months away: the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence. The road to 1976 was rocky. Americans endured a decade of disorienting social change and tumult ranging from political violence to urban riots. They lost thousands of young men in a traumatic and unsuccessful war. A generational economic boom was over. Social optimism had degenerated into suspicion and bitterness. An American president resigned after a coverup failed to conceal what many had long suspected.

The nation had good reason to eye the bicentennial with caution. But Billboard’s No. 1 song on July 4, 1975, was Captain & Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together,” and a year later, the country got itself together to stage a memorable celebration. On July 4, 1976, tall ships and other vessels from dozens of nations filled New York Harbor. Arthur Fiedler conducted the Boston Pops in a concert before a record-breaking audience of more than 400,000 on the Charles River Esplanade. In Washington, grand marshal Johnny Cash marched at the head of a massive parade down Constitution Avenue. Los Angeles staged its own great procession on Wilshire Boulevard.

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