Happy Independence Day, this 4th of July
A repost: Hardly a 4th of July passes that I do not think of some most amazing 4th of July circumstances.
No one tells it better than Joseph Ellis in his 2000 book, Founding Brothers (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000):
“On the evening of July 3, 1826, [Thomas] Jefferson fell into a coma. His last discernible words, uttered to the physician and family gathered around the bedside, indicated that he was hoping to time his exit in dramatic fashion: ‘Is it the Fourth?’ It was not, but he lingered in a semiconscious condition until shortly after noon on the magic day. That same morning, [John] Adams collapsed in his favorite reading chair. He lapsed into unconsciousness at almost the exact moment Jefferson died. The end came quickly, at about five-thirty that afternoon. He wakened for a brief moment, indicated that nothing more should be done to prolong the inevitable, then, with obvious effort, gave a final salute to his old friend with this last words: ‘Thomas Jefferson survives’, or, by another account, ‘Thomas Jefferson still lives.’ Whatever the version, he was wrong for the moment but right for the ages.”
copyright© 2000, by Joseph J. Ellis
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