On July 4, 2026, the U.S. will celebrate its 250th anniversary as a nation. The milestone arrives during a period of high strain for the country with some observers noting that the country is currently facing the deepest political, economic and socio-cultural division in its history. 

Various metrics of affective polarization (how much people dislike the “other side”) are at all-time highs though some pro Trump historians and sociologists argue that the current era is unique in its complexity rather than being a singular peak of division as compared with the civil war prior of the 1860s and the civil rights and Vietnam war period of the 1960s. 

Perhaps that peak point has yet to come. But even if the administration’s supporters are right, they will find it difficult to agree with the President who, in his second State of the Union (SOTU) address, repeatedly declared that the United States is entering a “Golden Age” or its “greatest era”. This rhetoric frames his administration’s “America First” agenda as a transformative period of national revival that he is committed to. 

Hopes that the looming semiquincentennial can be a major turning point for the nation, – bridging deep political divides, uniting its citizens and defining a progressive next century of American life – have been dashed with critics commenting that the SOTU speech has set a course for undermining the non-partisan, unifying promise of the semiquincentennial.

United States Semiquencentennial Commission

Initiated by a bipartisan congressional commission, the official organization in charge of promoting and coordinating the coming anniversary........

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