4th July 2026
Former 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 American independence.
Former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat who held office from 1993 to 2001, said the anniversary milestone came at a time of “renewed questions about America’s future and role in the world, and grave threats to our own institutions and our democracy.”
Criticizing “the people in charge”, he said in a statement that “there is still nothing wrong with America that cannot be fixed by what is right with America.”
His successor, George W. Bush, a Republican, said, “July 4th is a chance to celebrate our freedom and our independence.”
“I see the freedoms that we cherish, the freedom to worship the way you want to worship, the freedom to hold powerful people accountable for the press, the freedom to vote, the freedom to pursue dreams, as values that can unite us for the next 250 years,” he said in a video message on Twitter.
Barack Obama, the country’s first black president, underlined that the United States is “a constant work in progress.”
He said, “Each generation must complete the unfinished work of the last and carry it forward – protecting what is right, righting what is wrong, and making our union a little more perfect.” “250 years later, this is more important than ever,” he said.
Meanwhile, the 46th President of the United States Joe Biden, who serves from January 2021 to early 2025, said in a statement that “nothing about our democracy is guaranteed.”
“We have to fight for it, protect it, and earn it. Over and over again, year after year. It’s not a burden. That’s what it means to be American.”