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The national mood was dour. Political scandals and a lost war cast long shadows. The economy was mired in stagflation. Americans were losing confidence in the future. It was the summer of '76 — 1976! Yet despite the tough times, millions celebrated the nation's bicentennial, which was both patriotic and a bit schlocky. Historians Jeremi Suri and Jeffrey Engel reflect on that strange summer as many Americans today shrug their shoulders at the coming semiquincentennial.

Jeremi Suri teaches history at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He writes the Democracy of Hope newsletter.

Jeffrey Engel is the founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University.

Further reading:

On the Country's 250th Anniversary, the American People Are in a Sour Mood by Pew Research