Gerald Ford was the U.S. president in office during the 1976 United States Bicentennial celebrations.
Ford became president on August 9, 1974, after Richard Nixon resigned. He remained in office throughout the Bicentennial year, when the nation commemorated the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Ford participated in ceremonies in Philadelphia, Washington, and other historic locations.
On July 4, 1976, he attended major celebrations in Philadelphia and later watched a nationally televised fireworks display in Washington, D.C. The year also included international events, parades, tall-ship gatherings, exhibitions, and local observances across the country.
The Bicentennial occurred during an election year. Ford lost the November 1976 presidential election to Jimmy Carter, who took office in January 1977. Carter therefore was not the president during the July anniversary itself, a common source of confusion when the two names appear together in accounts of the decade.