US 250th Independence Day: Thunderstorms disrupt events
07/04/2026 July 4, 2026 living US presidents laud democratic values on Independence Day All four former living presidents of the United States have issued statements
07/04/2026 July 4, 2026 living US presidents laud democratic values on Independence Day All four former living presidents of the United States have issued statements commemorating 250 years of US independence. President Bill Clinton, a Democrat who was in office from 1993 to 2001, said this anniversary milestone comes at a time of "renewed questions about America's future and role in the world, and serious threats to our own institutions and to our democracy itself." While critical of "the people in charge," he said in a statement that "there is still nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what’s right with America." His successor, George W.
Bush, a Republican, said, "July 4 is a chance to celebrate our independence and our freedoms." "I view the freedoms we cherish, the freedom to worship the way you want to worship, the freedom for the press to hold the powerful to account, the freedom to vote, the freedom to realize dreams, as values that can unite us as we head for the next 250 years," he said in a video message on X.
Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president, underlined that the United States is "a constant work in progress." "Every generation must take up the unfinished work of the last and carry it further — protecting what's right, fixing what's wrong, and making our union a little more perfect," he said, adding: "250 years later, that’s more important than ever." Meanwhile, Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States who served from January 2021 to early 2025, said in a statement that "there's nothing guaranteed about our democracy." "We have to fight for it, defend it, and earn it.
Over and over, year after year. That's not a burden. That's what it means to be an American."
