Thoughts on America's 250th birthday
The Excerpt
USA TODAY
4.1 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 3 November 2025
⏱️ 14 minutes
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Summary
On July 4th 2026, America will celebrate its 250th birthday. The United States is the world’s oldest and still-evolving experiment in democracy. From a political perspective, how have the last 250 years shaped the way this nation governs itself? And how have we, the governed, evolved in how we see ourselves? USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page, a journalist who has had the privilege of interviewing ten presidents out of a total of just 45 over the course of her career, joins The Excerpt to share her thoughts on this noteworthy occasion.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.co. |
| 0:05.5 | U.K. slash Wondery. That's audible.com.uk slash Wondery. |
| 0:15.7 | On July 4th, 2026, America will celebrate its 250th birthday. |
| 0:22.6 | The United States is the world's oldest and still evolving experiment in democracy. |
| 0:31.6 | Hello, and welcome to USA Today's The Excerp. |
| 0:34.6 | I'm USA Today, Editor-in-Chief Karen Bohan. Today is Monday, November 3rd, 2025. |
| 0:42.1 | To commemorate this noteworthy birthday, I've asked journalists across the USA Today newsroom to embark on both |
| 0:49.5 | literal and metaphorical journeys. From a political perspective, how have the last 250 years shaped the way this nation governs itself? |
| 0:59.7 | And how have we, the governed, evolved in how we see ourselves? For more on these and other questions, |
| 1:06.7 | I turn now to USA Today, Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page, a journalist who has had the privilege of interviewing 10 presidents out of a total of just 45 over the course of her career. |
| 1:21.8 | Susan, thanks for joining me. |
| 1:23.7 | Karen, it's great to be with you. |
| 1:25.2 | Susan, you have a terrific piece out this morning on the 250th birthday of the United States, in which you write about the American journey, both physical and metaphorical. Why did you choose the symbolism of a journey? You know, America has never been only a destination. |
| 1:44.8 | It's always been a journey. |
| 1:45.9 | You think about 250 years ago, it was 13 colonies clustered along the Atlantic coast, and |
| 1:51.4 | then we expanded and expanded across the entire continent. |
| 1:56.2 | And it's been a metaphorical journey, too, in that 250 years ago, just about the only people who had the vote |
| 2:02.4 | were white men who owned property. Now we've had a situation where we've inaugurated a black |
| 2:08.2 | president. We've seen a woman serve as Speaker of the House. We've had eight members of the |
| 2:13.3 | Supreme Court who are not white men who own property. So that has represented kind of the big |
| 2:19.6 | expansion and changing nature of our country. That journey hasn't always been smooth. You could |
| 2:25.5 | argue it's a bit rocky now. Should Americans be worried? Well, I think a lot of Americans are |
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