President Trump Is Planning A July Fourth Celebration With Tanks And Jets. Is That Unprecedented?

27:53

Updated July 03, 2019

Tiziana Dearing
Walter Wuthmann

Audience members join arms as the Boston Pops play "God Bless America" during their Fourth of July Concert at the Hatch Shell in Boston, Thursday, July 4, 2013. (AP/Michael Dwyer)

Down in Washington, D.C., President Trump is preparing a big July Fourth event Thursday with a speech, army tanks, and an air force flyover at the National Mall. We look at how the military display fits into historical context.

Guests

Rep. Jim McGovern, Congressman for Massachusetts' 2nd District. He tweets @RepMcGovern.

Kimberly Atkins, WBUR senior news correspondent. She tweets @KimberlyEAtkins.

Heather Cox Richardson, professor of history at Boston College and author of "To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party." She tweets @HC_Richardson.

This article was originally published on July 03, 2019.

This segment aired on July 3, 2019.