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| Ronald Reagan, White House photo |
While acknowledging our differences, Reagan focused instead on our common goals. Reagan asked the nation to put disagreements into perspective. He asked us to celebrate and embrace what is good. He called Americans to uphold shared values, with world freedom (not just our own freedom) being the paramount value, working together, yes, “heart in hand.”
Today, have we forgotten that lesson?
A true traditionalist, Reagan quoted our third president, Thomas Jefferson, to reach across the ages with his optimism. Quoting Jefferson, Reagan reminded the audience about the nation’s ability to triumph over adversity, to ride through storms. He reminded the audience that we can overcome strife and continue to enjoy a united America: a United States of America. By quoting Jefferson, Reagan tied his ideas to tradition, while simultaneously looking to the future:
“‘It carries me back,’ Jefferson wrote about correspondence with his co-signer [John Adams] of the Declaration of Independence, ‘To the times when, beset with difficulties and dangers, we were fellow laborers in the same cause, struggling for what is most valuable to man, his right to self-government. Laboring, always at the same oar, with some wave ever ahead threatening to overwhelm us and yet passing harmless, we rode through this storm with heart and hand.’”“Rode through the storm.” We often lose perspective, don’t we? Our differences alarm us, while we overlook what we share. That is why, continuing, Reagan stated the balance—the balance between our heritage and our hopes for the future, on the one hand, and the seemingly minor differences that set us apart:
“…the things that unite us, America’s past of which we’re so proud, our hopes and aspirations for the future of the world and this much-loved country. These things far outweigh what little divides us.”Having reinforced the nation’s shared principles, Reagan neared his value-laden conclusion. Drawing an even larger point, Reagan gave the nation a lesson in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI):
“And so tonight we are to reaffirm, that Jew and Gentile, we are one nation under God. That black and white, we are one nation indivisible. That Republican and Democrat, we are all Americans. Tonight, with heart and hand, through whatever trial and travail, we pledge ourselves to each other and to the cause of human freedom. The cause that has given light to this land, and hope to the world.”Doesn’t that make sense? By definition, a united nation is an inclusive nation. We are all Americans, Reagan insisted, no matter what our religion. Regardless of race or ethnicity, he said, “we are one nation indivisible” (echoing the Pledge of Allegiance). Regardless of our disagreements, he said, Americans are to reach “heart and hand,” not only to one another, but to “the cause of human freedom.”
Indeed, yes, ceremonial speaking at its best pulls us together and reminds us of our shared values. Reagan talked about values by which we can live. We are weak if we fracture, but we can live in a united America. We can agree that freedom is important, and not just freedom for the privileged few, but freedom for everyone.
So often, conservatives today honor Ronald Reagan as one of our greatest presidents. However, should we all listen to him more often than we do? Can we agree about “the cause of human freedom?” Can we, on the Fourth of July 2023, remember to work together, “heart and hand?”
What Happened to the Fourth of July Speeches?
In my youth, we always heard a patriotic speech before the July Fourth fireworks. The content varied a little from year to year, but the speaker always reminded us about what it means to be an American. That practice has died away. The 4th of July should mean much more than setting off fireworks or grilling frankfurters. Shouldn’t it? Can we “ride through the storm?”
In my youth, we always heard a patriotic speech before the July Fourth fireworks. The content varied a little from year to year, but the speaker always reminded us about what it means to be an American. That practice has died away. The 4th of July should mean much more than setting off fireworks or grilling frankfurters. Shouldn’t it? Can we “ride through the storm?”
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Mark Twain's 1886 Fourth of July Speech
Frederick Douglass’ 1852 Fourth of July Speech and the Christian Right
Reagan versus Trump: The Unifier and the Divider. Two Public Speaking Styles. Same Message, Different Songs
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Research note: the insight that ceremonial (or epideictic) speeches teach shared values traces back to The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation, by Belgian philosophers Chaïm Perlman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca.
Thanks to the good people at rev.com for preparing a transcript of this important speech.
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