Happy 250 Years of Our Nations Freedom

250 Years of Freedom … and the Price of Keeping it

For 250 years America has stood as the greatest experiment in self-government the world has ever known. We celebrate Independence Day with fireworks, parades, and flags, but what we are truly celebrating is something much deeper.

We are celebrating a journey of the freedom of mankind.

For 250 years this Republic has fought, sacrificed, stumbled, learned, rebuilt, and endured.

Freedom did not simply appear on July 4, 1776. It was earned one generation at a time by ordinary Americans willing to pay an extraordinary price.

That is the lesson every American should remember this, Independence Day.

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Freedom Is Never Free

Every generation must fight for freedom. Not only to preserve it—but to understand it, appreciate it, and earn it for future generations.

The war for freedom did not end with the Revolutionary War. It continued through every conflict that followed as Americans of every race, religion, political belief, and background stood together to defend something larger than themselves.

Some never came home. Some returned carrying wounds that lasted a lifetime. All were willing to sacrifice everything so future generations could live free.

That is why freedom is never free.

But it doesn’t end there, on our soil we have had battles and struggles as well. Each was a battle that had to be won for freedom to see another celebration.

The struggle our nation faces today is no exception. Today’s fight will be fought and again freedom will win. The cost once again may be great, but once again prove to be worth it.

What separates America from so much of the world is not simply freedom. It is victory.

Victory over Tyranny yes, but more importantly victory over the spirit of failure, victory over questions that must be answered, and victory over problems that must be solved. America will always rise to the cause that must be won.

Because without truth there can be no freedom.

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Seeing America Through Foreign Eyes

As visitors arrive from around the world to enjoy the World Cup, I've listened to many describe America with genuine admiration.

They marvel at our cities. They admire our stadiums. They praise the friendliness of our people. They speak of its size and grandeur.

Many of them say they wish they could stay.

Their admiration reminds us of something we often forget.

Sometimes people who have never lived with true freedom recognize it more quickly than those who have always had it.

It is clear they have been taught a different story about America. But now they witness the truth and they want it.

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Wanting Freedom Is Different Than Building It

There is nothing wrong with admiring America. I welcome it. But wanting the rewards of freedom is different from accepting the responsibility required to create it.

America did not become exceptional through luck.

It became exceptional because generation after generation stayed, sacrificed, buried loved ones, built communities, defended their neighbors, and refused to abandon the Republic when times became difficult.

Freedom is not inherited automatically. It must be continually won and earned one generation at a time. You can never have the results of freedom, without walking the road too freedom.

I hope if we can send our newfound friends’ home with anything, I hope it will be the gift of loving their country enough to free it from Tyranny.

I hope we can help them to walk the journey to receive the rewards.

But above all I plead to them, be inspired by our Journey, not impressed with the destination of prosperity. Learn to do what we did, not want what we have.

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History Is the Road Map of Greatness

Our greatest inheritance is not simply our prosperity.

It is our history. A nation can never look forward, until it understands its past.

History is the record of ordinary people making extraordinary sacrifices.

It tells us how this Republic survived wars, depressions, division, and uncertainty.

When we stop teaching that history, we do more than forget names and dates.

We forget the road that brought us here.

A nation that forgets the journey eventually loses its destination.

Knowledge builds strength.

That is why history matters.

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Celebrating the Journey

We celebrate our 250th year of independence, not the fruit of it, but the journey it took us on.

Too many people admire the fruits of American freedom without understanding the roots that produced them.

The fruit is prosperity from the root of sacrifice.

The fruit is liberty from the root of courage.

The fruit is opportunity from the roots of generations willing to fight for something they might never personally get to enjoy.

This Independence Day we should celebrate far more than 250 successful years. We should celebrate the journey that made those years possible. Because a destination suggests the journey is over. But we know Freedom's journey never ends.

We must teach the next generation that the torch will be passed and must be carried forward no matter the cost, because this is America, the home of the free because of the brave, there is no place left to run, if we fall, that is not just the end of America, it would be the end of freedom.

I am proud to be an American. I am proud of our history, both the victories and the failures that taught us who we are. It is this history that is the spirit of our nation. It is this spirit that is the guiding conscience for the future.

And I believe the greatest gift we can give future generations is not simply the America we inherited, but the understanding of how it was built and that they too must pick up the torch and follow the path of freedom.

Happy Independence Journey, America.

May we never celebrate only the fruits of freedom while forgetting the road that carried us here.