Fourth of July: The American Experiment Is Still in Progress

A special archive edition of the Hive [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( Fourth of July: The American Experiment Is Still in Progress Happy Fourth of July! American democracy has come a long way in 247 years. From Richard Nixon’s resignation during Watergate, as [chronicled]( by John D. O’Connor, to [Black Lives Matter protests]( against police brutality in 2020, the country has made a great many strides on government accountability, racial justice, and so much more. “Nations are like people,” Sherwood Anderson [wrote]( on the nation’s 150th birthday in a 1926 issue of Vanity Fair. “It takes a long, long time for one of them to grow up.” Now, as the country marches toward its semiquincentennial, America still has a lot of growing up to do. As Chris Whipple [wrote]( for the magazine in 2021, the last four presidents—from Bush to Biden—repeated many of the same foreign policy blunders in Afghanistan, where the US waged a decades-long war. And stateside, with January 6 still lingering in the national consciousness, it’s crucial that next year’s voters “learn the language of fascism,” as Jeff Sharlet recently [put it](, before the far right’s dangerous rhetoric becomes reality. Thanks for reading. [Mystics and Clowns]( By [Jeff Sharlet]( [The Capitol riot brimmed with fascist symbols—sound and fury signifying everything.]( [Read more button](   [True Stories About the Great Fire]( By [Vanity Fair]( [A movement’s early days as told by those who rose up, those who bore witness, those who grieved, and those who hoped.]( [Read more button](   [Four Horsemen of the Forever War]( By [Chris Whipple]( [How successive commanders in chief, from Bush to Biden, got caught in the Afghan quagmire.]( [Read more button](   [“I’m the Guy They Called Deep Throat”]( By [John D. O’Connor]( [Despite three decades of intense speculation, the identity of “Deep Throat”—the source who leaked key details of Nixon’s Watergate cover-up to Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein—has never been revealed. Meet W. Mark Felt.]( [Read more button](   [Hello, Big Boy]( By [Sherwood Anderson]( [An inquiry into America’s progress during 150 years.]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe](newsletter=vf) Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2023 Condé Nast