As the United States approaches its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026, Francine Prose, former president of the PEN American Center, reflects on the unusual longevity of the American democratic experiment. Democracies rarely last, but this one has, despite a flawed history including land grabs, slaughter of indigenous populations, slavery, and enduring inequalities. The high-minded idealism of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, however, remains admirable.
The Bicentennial Nostalgia
Prose recalls the bicentennial in 1976 as a fun celebration, living outside a small rural town with a parade, fife and drum corps, tricornered hats, flags, and fireworks. Then-President Gerald Ford had sponsored civil rights legislation, Roe v. Wade was three years old, and the Supreme Court had brilliant and honorable judges. The Vietnam War had ended. Despite problems like growing military presence in Central America and urban decay, there was hope in the air.
Current Threats to Democracy
Prose expresses uncertainty about the 2026 celebration under Donald Trump, who she says has rapidly made democracy less democratic. Constitutional freedoms have been compromised, eroded, or obliterated. Freedom of the press has given way to censorship and biased political operatives replacing investigative journalists. Freedom of speech has diminished with protesters silenced, assaulted, arrested, or deported. Legal guarantees like habeas corpus and the right to a fair trial are disappearing. Election map redrawing threatens the right to vote in fair elections.
Trump's Birthday Plans
Trump has responded with tweets and messages steeped in hostility, aggression, and grandiosity. Plans for a patriotic concert fell through when musicians declined; Trump floated a MAGA rally instead, hardly reflecting a unified nation. The emphasis on military shows of force contrasts with the high school drum corps of 50 years ago. A UFC cage fight on the White House south lawn struck Prose as weird and embarrassing, imagining Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin watching fighters in an octagonal enclosure. Some hear echoes of the speech that preceded the January 6 insurrection in Trump's pre-birthday rhetoric.
A Call for True Commemoration
Prose loves summer holidays with fireworks, barbecues, and back-yard gatherings. She hopes to celebrate the country's survival while mindful of how democracy is being dismantled. The ideal would combine merriment with true commemoration of why the nation fought to overthrow a monarchy and why immigrants came for peace, security, and better lives. She suggests leaders pause to read the Bill of Rights aloud, reminding crowds of what the Constitution says and promises. Brave speakers might risk being buzzkills by mentioning costly wars, detention centers resembling concentration camps, and policies antithetical to democratic ideals.
Looking Forward
Prose emphasizes hopes that in another half-century, the US will still have a democracy that has not just endured but triumphed. She raises a toast to another 250 years, cheering for a future where antidemocratic forces and authoritarian tendencies subside, bringing citizens closer to the dream of what democracy can provide. She wishes a rousing happy birthday to a nation that can take the best from history and insist on bringing divided communities together, improving life for everyone at home and around the world.
