The Fourth of July is a time of celebration for all Americans, as we commemorate the bold actions of those who brought our Nation into being 202 years ago today.
We celebrate on this day the benefits of freedom which Americans have struggled to establish and died to preserve. But since we are aware that not all people share our good fortune to live in a country founded on liberty, the Fourth of July is also an occasion to rededicate ourselves to the pursuit everywhere of the human rights for which our Nation has always stood.
In 1978, we face these responsibilities, proud of our heritage and confident that our belief in freedom will carry us forward in the years ahead.
Jimmy Carter, Fourth of July Statement by the President. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/248818