Weekly Column: A Very Special Fourth Of July

This year’s Independence Day celebrations are particularly special, because July 4, 2026, marks the United States of America’s 250th Anniversary--250 years since the Founding Fathers built a bedrock of individual liberties and self-governance we have the benefit of today; 250 years of a successful great American experiment; 250 years of this great country.

Thinking about the creation of our country prompted me to think about what Idaho was like in 1776 when the Declaration took shape. Then, Idaho did not have cities and roads. It was vast forests, river canyons, sagebrush plains and rugged mountain ranges, home to Native American Tribes and abundant wildlife. It was not until 1805 that the Lewis and Clark Expedition entered what is now Idaho, 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln signed an act creating the Idaho Territory and 1890 when President Benjamin Harrison signed the law admitting Idaho as a U.S. state. In 1776, Idaho was a land of deep beauty, cultural history and opportunity—elements still very much alive today.

In the 250 years since our country’s creation, Idahoans have turned ingenuity and opportunity into a thriving and growing economy that understandably attracts those striving to build and grow under enormous skies, within reach of exceptional natural resources. I applaud what Idahoans have created and look forward to where we are headed over the next 250 years. Idahoans have raised an outstanding and aspirational example of Americanism in our United States.

In the lead up to the crafting of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine issued the pamphlet “Common Sense” arguing for American Independence. He wrote, “The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.” The Smithsonian, which has displayed the pamphlet, highlighted Paine’s argument and role in this chapter of our country’s formation writing, “Paine’s pamphlet—addressed to the common people and their common sense rather than the high and mighty—helped to animate the existing patriot movement in the colonies with brilliant writing, a ready willingness to dismiss the British king and a fierce commitment to actually representative government institutions.”

Thomas Jefferson amplified a similar sentiment about America’s influence 45 years later when he wrote to John Adams on September 12, 1821, “The flames kindled on the 4^th of July, 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism. On the contrary they will consume these engines, and all who work them.”

People around the world long for the freedoms of speech, of the press, of the ability to petition their governments without persecution and to direct where their future takes them. Americans are fortunate our country’s Founders, with their pens, courage and God-given wisdom, recognized the utmost importance of these freedoms in the formation of our country and American servicemembers have fought and given their lives to preserve them at home and proliferate them throughout our world.

As we celebrate the more than 250 years of the hard-fought creation and defense of our American ideals, I honor all those whose bravery and love of country and fellow Americans are tightly woven into the success of our remarkable United States of America. God bless America and God bless Idaho, a standard bearer of the freedom and resolve we honor on this very special Fourth of July.

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