As We Celebrate Freedom, Let’s Keep the American Spirit Alive

Fireworks illuminate the sky above the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall during Independence Day celebrations in Washington on July 4, 2021. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

In his eloquent and prophetic January 1989 farewell address to the nation, President Ronald Reagan gave us a somber warning, saying, “If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are. I’m warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in the erosion of the American spirit.”