05/06/2026
As the nation gears up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence (the Semiquincentennial), you might be wondering how Americans celebrated the Bicentennial, or America’s 200th birthday in 1976? Many did by sending patriotic gifts to the White House!
From 1975 through 1976, President Gerald R. Ford received a deluge of gifts (as many as fifty a day) from individual citizens, companies, Native American nations, Girl Scout troops and other organizations, intended to commemorate and celebrate the Bicentennial. The range of gifts were, in the words of White House staff, “as wide as imagination will permit,” including numerous quilts, commemorative coins and plates, red, white, and blue clothing items, sculptures of eagles, patriotic dog collars, and a pipe in the shape of the Liberty Bell. President Ford treated them not as personal gifts but rather as gifts to the nation. On February 2, 1976, White House staff assembled several hundred of the gifts in the State Dining Room for President Ford to view, while reporters captured the moment. Afterwards, the gifts were put on public display in the Commerce Building, then sent to the National Archives. Today, they are part of the collection at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.
Image: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library / NARA
