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2019 Salute to America

2019 controversies in the United States2019 festivals2019 in American politics2019 in Washington, D.C.AC with 0 elements
Events in Washington, D.C.Independence Day (United States) festivalsJuly 2019 events in the United StatesNational MallPresidency of Donald TrumpTrump administration controversiesUse mdy dates from September 2019
Salute to America (48201286086)
Salute to America (48201286086)

The 2019 Salute to America was an event arranged by the Trump administration held on Independence Day, July 4, 2019, in Washington, D.C. It took place at the National Mall and included presentations of U.S. military vehicles, an address by President Donald Trump from the Lincoln Memorial, flyovers by military aircraft, and a fireworks display. The event occurred alongside pre-existing annual Independence Day events such as the National Independence Day Parade and the PBS-televised A Capitol Fourth concert. It was the first time a U.S. president had addressed a crowd at the National Mall on Independence Day in 68 years. There was controversy leading up to the event. Trump's critics expressed concern that the celebration would be a political event reminiscent of his campaign rallies, especially in the early stages of his 2020 re-election campaign. Concerns were also raised over the involvement of the military, the distribution of VIP tickets to donors and members of the Republican Party, as well as the cost of the event. Trump's speech focused largely on praising the United States' cultural and military accomplishments and featured themes of American exceptionalism and patriotism.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article 2019 Salute to America (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

2019 Salute to America
Lincoln Steps, Washington

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N 38.8893 ° E -77.0501 °
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Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Steps
20418 Washington
District of Columbia, United States
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Salute to America (48201286086)
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Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial is a US national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in the form of a neoclassical temple. The memorial's architect was Henry Bacon. The designer of the memorial interior's large central statue, Abraham Lincoln (1920), was Daniel Chester French; the Lincoln statue was carved by the Piccirilli brothers. The painter of the interior murals was Jules Guerin, and the epitaph above the statue was written by Royal Cortissoz. Dedicated in May 1922, it is one of several memorials built to honor an American president. It has always been a major tourist attraction and since the 1930s has sometimes been a symbolic center focused on race relations. The building is in the form of a Greek Doric temple and contains a large seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and inscriptions of two well-known speeches by Lincoln, the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address. The memorial has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech delivered on August 28, 1963, during the rally at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Like other monuments on the National Mall – including the nearby Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and World War II Memorial – the national memorial is administered by the National Park Service under its National Mall and Memorial Parks group. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since October 15, 1966, and was ranked seventh on the American Institute of Architects' 2007 list of America's Favorite Architecture. The memorial is open to the public 24 hours a day, and more than 7 million people visit it annually.

January 2019 Lincoln Memorial confrontation

On January 18, 2019, a confrontation between groups of political demonstrators took place near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The interaction between Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann and Native American activist Nathan Phillips was captured in photos and videos widely disseminated by major media outlets. Videos released days later showed that initial media reports had omitted key details of the incident. Reports of the incident triggered outrage in the United States, including calls to dox the students, after many stories falsely portrayed the Catholic students as the aggressors. The students received death threats and Covington Catholic High School temporarily closed due to fears for its students' safety.The short videos of the encounter that were uploaded to social media platforms received millions of views and were widely shared. At first, the anger focused on the students and the school, which, along with some of the students, received threats of violence. As more videos were released, diverging views about what had happened polarized Americans. The incident was described by The New York Times as an "explosive convergence of race, religion and ideological beliefs" and a Vox editorial called it the "nation's biggest story".In February 2019, the Covington Diocese released an investigation report of a private detective agency hired by the diocese and the high school, stating that the report exonerated the students. The American news media has been criticized for covering the incident without fully investigating what occurred and fueling controversy and outrage. Covington students have filed a number of multi-million dollar defamation lawsuits against news agencies. Nicholas Sandmann, the Covington student featured in most media coverage of the incident, settled lawsuits with CNN, The Washington Post and NBC.

I Have a Dream
I Have a Dream

"I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement and among the most iconic speeches in American history.Beginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared millions of slaves free in 1863, King said "one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free". Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised peroration on the theme "I have a dream", prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" In this part of the speech, which most excited the listeners and has now become its most famous, King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred.Jon Meacham writes that, "With a single phrase, King joined Jefferson and Lincoln in the ranks of men who've shaped modern America". The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century in a 1999 poll of scholars of public address. The speech has also been described as having "a strong claim to be the greatest in the English language of all time".

The Education Center at The Wall

The Education Center at The Wall was a collaborative effort between the National Park Service and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF). The Center was approved by Congress, and construction was planned for the National Mall site adjacent to the Vietnam Memorial and on the corner of Constitution Avenue and 23rd Street. The two-story underground learning facility would have been built in keeping with the design, tone, and mood of The Wall and so as not to detract from the historic vistas of the National Mall. VVMF canceled the project in 2018 due to fundraising challenges.The purpose of the Education Center was to inform future generations of the honor and sacrifices made by those who served their country. The center's core would revolve around seven traits that embody the American service member throughout the generations: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Service, Honor, Integrity, and Courage. A prominent feature of the Education Center was to be the larger-than-life pictures of service members whose names adorn the polished black panels of The Wall. The pictures would be displayed on the service members' birthdays and add faces to the more than 58,000 names on The Wall and tell the stories of those who served. Volunteers sought to find photos of each of the veterans, along with service background information on computers at the Education Center and online for non-local visitors. The Education Center would have also featured displays of the more than 400,000 personal articles, letters, and gifts that have been left at the foot of the memorial since its dedication in 1982. Like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Education Center at The Wall was completely funded through private donations. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund embarked on a multi-year campaign to secure the nearly $115 million needed. The campaign leadership included Gen. Colin Powell USA (Ret.) and Gen. Barry A. McCaffrey USA (Ret.). Actor Tom Selleck served as the National Spokesman. In September 2018 the Fund announced it would scrap its plans for construction of the center and instead focus on digital education and outreach.