MAGA Misery The president's Fourth of July festivities were a mess The 200th anniversary of the United States brought two years of celebrations before the actual bicentennial, on July 4, 1976. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip accompanied President Ford on a tour of the land her predecessors had lost, a spectacular parade of ships sailed from New York City to Boston, 50 wagons recreated the settlers journey on the Oregon trail (none ate each other after an unfortunate winter in the Sierras), our most prestigious LARPers reenacted Washington’s crossing of the Delaware, and Johnny Cash served as grand marshall of the July 4 parade in Washington, D.C. The city inaugurated a new Smithsonian and the city’s first subway line to mark the occasion. So what did Americans — a little older, a lit