Politicizing July Fourth Is as Old as the Holiday

President Donald Trump is politicizing the Fourth of July — so say the president’s critics in tones of frank outrage over his plans for a presidential speech accompanied by fighter jet flyovers. It’s not only, they say, that Trump is promoting militarism by parading some tanks through Washington. Rather, Trump is taking the wholesome, politically neutral, family fun of the holiday and using it to advance his own partisan interests. In place of hot dogs and fireworks, Trump is bringing us Republican elephants.

There’s just one problem with this line of criticism: The Fourth of July was a partisan holiday from the time it was first celebrated in the 1790s. It became popular as a self-conscious endorsement of Thomas Jefferson, his Declaration of Independence and the first Republican Party — over George Washington, Washington’s Birthday and the Federalist Party.