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Show 14-26 Summary: It’s our annual 4th of July show! With our annual guest, amateur historian Greg Leo. This year our main focus is on how Presidents celebrated July Fourth down through the years. One didn’t. And one president may have died because of his Independence Day celebrations. And be sure to tune in to hear about one of history’s largest bar tabs. Because our founding fathers definitely knew how to celebrate freedom. As always, there’s always lots more to discuss—including the big 250th anniversary coming up in 2026, just two short years away.

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Original Air Dates: June 29th & 30th, 2024 | Guest: Greg Leo

This Week – How Presidents Celebrated July Fourth

It’s our annual Fourth of July show! Down through the years we have look at the history of Independence Day, how it’s been celebrated and the traditions that have come down to us even from those early celebrations. We’ve looked at July 4th on the Oregon trail. We’ve examined the Declaration of Independence itself and the rights and grievances lodged against the king. We’ve looked at the signers of the declaration. And two years ago we took an in-depth look at George Washington who was so very central to America’s independence.

But it’s not always been easy. And there have been celebrations even in dark, turbulent times in American history. Like the Civil War. And the first 50 years, because there was a lot of doubt America would even make it that far.

This year, being a presidential election year, we’re looking at how presidents celebrated Independence Day.

Want more? Because there’s always so much to talk about we feel like we only scratched the surface. so if you’d like to find out more about how presidents celebrated Independence Day, be sure to check links and information section below.

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Greg Leo is a public affairs consultant, working with governments, tribes, businesses, and individuals. If you need help in that area, contact him via greg@TheLeoCompany.com

How Presidents have Celebrated Independence Day

• Here’s a look at how American presidents have celebrated July 4th, including Zachary Taylor’s maybe fatal food poisoning (Fortune, July 4, 2023)
• Similar to the above, but an expanded list: What did the presidents do on July Fourth? (U.S. National Park Service)
• Really good: The History of White House July Fourth Celebrations Is Really Weird – (Washingtonian, July 1, 2020)
• Also quite good: The Earliest July 4 Celebrations · George Washington’s Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon Foundation)
• From the Archives: A Fourth of July with the Presidents (whitehouse.gov, July 3, 2012)
• How Do US Presidents Spend the Fourth of July? (Voice of America, July 3, 2023)
• Fourth of July at the White House (White House History)
• Includes the story of Zachary Taylor’s death: The Colorful, Sometimes Odd Ways America Celebrates the Fourth of July (Coffee or Die, July 1, 2023)
• When Zachary Taylor wolfed down apparently spoiled cherries and milk—and died five days later (via Clinton White House Archives)
  • Zachary Taylor Funeral (via Whitehousehistory.org)
• Teddy Roosevelt’s July Fourth speech: “I Like Big Things” (Theodore Roosevelt Center, July 3, 2012)

America at 250: The 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

• The Semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence will be here before you know it. Check out America250.org
• 250th Commemoration: U.S. National Park Service Commemorations and Celebrations

Mentioned/Related/Additional Fourth of July Links

• July 4th Then and Now: Are we celebrating Independence Day as the Founding Fathers once did? (Taylor Research Group, July 3, 2020)
• 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the Fourth of July (Mental Floss, Jun 12, 2024)
• A Toppled Statue of George III Illuminates the Ongoing Debate Over America’s Monuments (Smithsonian Magazine, January 28, 2022)
• Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 (via The National Archives)