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- इसका हिस्सा White House Staff Member and Office Files (Nixon Administration), President's Personal Files
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OCR Page 1 of 4(Safire/Price) JK
October 8, 1969
SUGGESTED REMARKS AT APPEARANCE
WITH BICENTENNIAL COMMISSION
We are gathered in this historic house to address ourselves to an
opportunity that comes to America once in a century. That opportunity
will be met if we use this Bicentennial to summon the American spirit -
the spirit of '76 -- to rededicate the nation. We must use this chance to
define our new ideals, to set new standards, to determine what our third
century of independence should be like.
In these past two centuries, America has grown from a struggling
collection of colonies on the edge of a wilderness, to the first power of
the world -- the strongest nation, the richest nation, the nation that pro- -
vides more freedom to more of its people, than any other. But it's not
enough to celebrate the past, or to revel in our wealth or our strength.
Therefore, I would urge the members of this Commission to continually
raise their sights to concern themselves mainly with the meaning of
this event.
Something that happened at the Centennial celebration, in 1876, will
make my point. The managers of the event believed that the greatest
attraction to the crowds coming to Philadelphia would be Alexander Graham
Bell's amazing new invention, the telephone. And of course there was
much interest in this new scientific development. But far more of an
attraction - in fact, the hit of the Centennial celebration - was not a
scientific marvel at all. It was a painting, of a man carrying a flag,
marching with a fifer and a drummer, called "Spirit of '76. " That
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