| Summary/Abstract |
An underappreciated bright spot in the otherwise bleak 1970s, the 200th anniversary of the American Revolution presented the United States with an opportunity to recapture some of the moral authority it squandered in Vietnam. The memory of the Revolution, not to mention the Declaration of Independence, remained alive and well in the world two centuries later, providing the United States with a durable source of prestige. U.S. public diplomats recalled the memory of 1776 in an effort to rebrand America in 1976. This article recalls that initiative, which speaks to the management of America's portrait in the global 1970s as well as the operability of commemorative diplomacy in international affairs.
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