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WASHINGTON — <\/span>In 1976’s \u201c Rocky<\/a>,\u201d heavyweight champion Apollo Creed arrives for the title fight dressed as George Washington, reenacting the crossing of the Delaware as models costumed as the Statue of Liberty lead the way.<\/p>\n After entering the ring, Apollo switches into an Uncle Sam costume. \u201cI want YOU!\u201d he roars as he points to Rocky Balboa, the far less flamboyant palooka he’s chosen for this bicentennial bout in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n Then the two boxers pound the daylights out of each other.<\/p>\n It’s as accurate a representation of the American bicentennial vibe as has ever been put on film \u2014 plenty of fireworks, but not much thought about how 200 years of independence led to this.<\/p>\n I was 13 years old in 1976. Kids my age \u2014 the tail end of the Baby Boom, or the vanguard of Generation X \u2014 grew up skeptical of the government. We had outlasted the Vietnam War<\/a> and the Watergate scandal<\/a>, with the occasional moment of joy \u2014 the moon landing, say \u2014 to break the gloom. The state of the union was intact, even if many Americans were still on edge.<\/p>\n My family lived in Newport News, Virginia, not far from the Historic Triangle of Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg. So there was plenty of buzz surrounding the bicentennial. President Gerald Ford and his wife, Betty, took a carriage ride through Colonial Williamsburg, foreign leaders came to visit, and the living museum regularly staged reenactments of the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n Ford and plenty of other dignitaries went to New York for what the president called \u201cthe greatest Fourth of July any of us will ever see.\u201d Operation Sail was a floating parade of 16 tall ships and more than 100 smaller vessels from around the world \u2014 including, even, the Soviet Union. It was a boon for the beleaguered Big Apple, proving that \u201cNew Yorkers could get along, even during difficult times,\u201d according to the Gotham Center for New York History.<\/p>\n For history buffs who couldn’t make the trip east, there was the American Freedom Train, a 26-car behemoth that toured all 48 contiguous states. It displayed two centuries of artifacts like George Washington’s copy of the Constitution, the original Louisiana Purchase, Judy Garland’s dress from \u201cThe Wizard of Oz\u201d and a moon rock. Merle Haggard even released a song about it.<\/p>\n I had a nifty 3D poster of the Freedom Train on my bedroom wall. A different poster captured everyone’s eye later in 1976 \u2014 one featuring \u201cCharlie’s Angels\u201d star Farrah Fawcett-Majors.<\/p>\n It’s patriotic in its own way. There’s Farrah, sporting big hair, a blinding white smile and a red swimsuit, posed in front of a red, white and blue blanket. The color scheme may not have been intentional, but it might as well be titled \u201cAll-American Girl” for its presentation of what much of society saw as one.<\/p>\n There were plenty of more deliberate anniversary collectibles out there. A quick search of eBay in 2026 digs up hundreds of collectible plates, glasses, beer mugs and bumper stickers. The government unleashed special quarters, stamps and license plates. And of course Madison Avenue jumped in, selling bicentennial cereal, candy, beer and soda. You could get a different 7-Up can for each of the 50 states. <\/p>\n Even the creator of the Pet Rock \u2014 the preposterous 1975 phenomenon that was, yes, a rock in a box \u2014 tried to get in on the act. That fad, alas, had run its course, and the Bicentennial Pet Rock flopped. You’d have been better off buying a Pez dispenser with the head of Paul Revere or Betsy Ross.<\/p>\n Broadcast television \u2014 remember, we only had three networks \u2014 was more subdued. For kids, ABC’s beloved \u201cSchoolhouse Rock!\u201d spun off \u201cAmerica Rock.\u201d But while that cartoon did include some history, it’s best remembered for the mournful civics lesson \u201cI’m Just a Bill.\u201d<\/p>\n More prominent was CBS News’ “Bicentennial Minute.” Starting July 4, 1974, barely a month before President Richard Nixon resigned, it ran every night in prime time, presenting the news from 200 years earlier. It was so unavoidable that sitcoms like \u201cAll in the Family\u201d referred to it; \u201cSaturday Night Live,\u201d which debuted in 1975, paid tribute with a \u201cBisexual Minute.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, all three networks pulled out the stops on July 4, 1976. Walter Cronkite led the pack with 16 hours of coverage on CBS, while \u201cBob Hope’s Bicentennial Star-Spangled Spectacular\u201d (“the show that took 200 years to produce”) on NBC celebrated with Sammy Davis Jr., Captain & Tennille and Donny and Marie Osmond.<\/p>\n Certainly, not everyone was in the mood to celebrate. Richard Pryor released an influential album whose title was \u201cBicentennial,\u201d followed by an ethnic slur. The title track is a monologue from a 200-year-old slave; it ends with \u201cI ain\u2019t gonna never forget it.\u201d In the same album’s \u201dBicentennial Prayer,” Pryor proclaims, “We are celebrating 200 years of white folks kickin’ ass.\u201d<\/p>\n Popular music wasn’t in a particularly patriotic mood either. Elton John’s 1975 hit \u201cPhiladelphia Freedom\u201d became a de facto anthem of sorts, even though it’s barely about Philadelphia and is more about individual independence. <\/p>\n Indeed, the prevailing pop attitude was: Let’s forget about this mess we’ve left behind and go to the disco. So the Billboard singles charts were topped by the likes of Johnnie Taylor’s \u201cDisco Lady,\u201d The Sylvers’ \u201cBoogie Fever,\u201d The Bee Gees’ \u201cYou Should Be Dancing\u201d and KC and the Sunshine Band’s \u201c(Shake Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty.\u201d<\/p>\n On the album charts, California’s hippie culture was shaking off its hangover with haunted LPs like the Eagles’ \u201cHotel California\u201d and Jackson Browne’s \u201cThe Pretender.\u201d Something else was breaking loose in New York, though, with aggressive debuts from the Ramones and Blondie. The Ramones’ logo included an eagle holding an olive branch and a baseball bat, and their repertoire included the future stadium anthem \u201cBlitzkrieg Bop.\u201d What could be more American?<\/p>\n Speaking of America’s pastime, I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up the year’s funniest movie, \u201cThe Bad News Bears.\u201d It’s baseball the way it was meant to be played \u2014 by a bunch of foul-mouthed juvenile delinquents coached by a surly, alcoholic has-been embodied by Walter Matthau. Double 50-year-old spoiler alert: Like Rocky, the Bears don’t win in the end. But they do have fun.<\/p>\n The same can’t be said for the characters in most of 1976’s dramatic films. Hollywood did its best to get a patriotic movie \u2014 the World War II epic \u201cMidway\u201d \u2014 in theaters in June, but it quickly fizzled. The top box office draw on July 4th was \u201cThe Omen,\u201d about an angelic-looking boy who turns out to be the Antichrist.<\/p>\n More prestigious films continued to wrestle with the paranoia of the Nixon era. \u201cAll the President’s Men\u201d dramatized The Washington Post’s investigation of the Watergate scandal. In \u201cTaxi Driver,\u201d a Vietnam War veteran plots to assassinate a presidential contender. In \u201cNetwork,\u201d a TV anchorman urges his viewers to open their windows and scream, \u201cI’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!\u201d<\/p>\n All three are undisputed classics. All three were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. All three lost to \u201cRocky.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n