Slideshow: 50 years of July 4th Naturalization Ceremonies »
July 4th Speakers at Monticello
1955—Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States
1947—Harry S. Truman, President of the United States
1936—Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States
July 4th Naturalization Ceremony Speakers
(hyperlinks indicate video or transcripts are available)
2024—Misty Copeland, ballerina, author, and philanthropist
2023—James E. Ryan, President of the University of Virginia
2022—Frank Friedman, Retired President of Piedmont Virginia Community College
2020—José Andrés, chef and humanitarian
2019—Khizr Khan, constitutional rights and national unity advocate and Gold Star parent
2018—Andrew H. Tisch, Co-Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Executive Committee Loews Corporation, and co-author of Journeys: An American Story
2017—David N. Saperstein, former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom and prominent Reform rabbi
2016—Larry J. Sabato, founder and director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics
2015—Terence R. McAuliffe, Governor of Virginia
2014—David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and co-chairman of The Carlyle Group
2013—Dave Matthews, musician
2012—Nadia Comāneci, Olympic gymnast
2011—Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer The Coca-Cola Company
2010—Tracey Ullman, actress and comedienne
2009—Tom Perriello, U.S. Representative, 5th Congressional District of Virginia
2008—George W. Bush, President of the United States
2007—Sam Waterston, actor
2006—Christo and Jeanne-Claude, artists
2005—I.M. Pei, architect
2004—W. Richard West, Jr., founding director of Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
2003—Allen H. Neuharth, founder of USA Today and The Freedom Forum
2002—Frank McCourt, author
2001—Vartan Gregorian, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York
2000—Madeleine K. Albright, Secretary of State
1999—James S. Gilmore III, Governor of Virginia
1998—Andrew Young, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
1997—Gen. Colin L. Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Department of Defense
1996—Richard Moe, President, National Trust for Historic Preservation
1995—Roberto C. Goizueta, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
1994—David McCullough, biographer and historian
1993—John T. Casteen III, President, Univ. of Virginia
1992—Carl Sagan, David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences, Cornell University
1991—Jacques Andreani, Ambassador of France to the United States
1990—L. Douglas Wilder, Governor of Virginia
1989—Henry J. Abraham, James Hart Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs, Univ. of Virginia
1988—John Charles Thomas, Justice, Supreme Court of Virginia
1987—Gerald L. Baliles, Governor of Virginia
1986—Kenneth W. Thompson, Director, White Burkett Miller Center for Public Affairs at the Univ. of Virginia
1985—John W. Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia
1984—John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary of the Army
1983—J. Kenneth Robinson, U.S. Representative, 7th Congressional District of Virginia
1982—Charles S. Robb, Governor of Virginia
1981—Merrill D. Peterson, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor of History, Univ. of Virginia
1980—Charles F. Baldwin, Ambassador in Residence, Univ. of Virginia
1979—Clifton Waller Barrett, Trustee, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation
1978—John N. Dalton, Governor of Virginia
1977—Caryl Parker Haskins, Trustee, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation
1976—Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States (held on July 5)
1975—Dumas Malone, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor of History, Emeritus, Univ. of Virginia
1974—Louis B. Wright, Director Emeritus, Folger Shakespeare Library
1973—Albertis S. Harrison, Jr., Justice, Virginia Supreme Court, and former Governor of Virginia
1972—Harry F. Byrd, U.S. Senator from Virginia
1971—Mills E. Godwin, Jr., former Governor of Virginia
1970—J. Sergeant Reynolds, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
1969—U. Alexis Johnson, Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Department of State
1968—Eugene V. Rostow, Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Department of State
1967—Henry H. Fowler, Secretary of the Treasury
1966—Torben Rønne, Ambassador of Denmark to the United States
1965—Hervé Alphand, Ambassador of France to the United States
1964—Henry J. Taylor, former U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland
1963—Sir Robert Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia (an audio recording of this speech is available online)