The Story Behind God Bless America – RedState

Like Christmas, Independence Day is legendary for its songs. 

There are so many of them that convey home the patriotism of the vacation, our gratitude for our forefathers for creating a more excellent union, and our love of America. Think, the Star‑Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the usA., and these days, during the World Cup, John Denver’s Country Roads.

Of course, one of those patriotic favorites is God Bless America, and it’s still sung by the huge crowds across the nation.

But when was it first carried out, and who wrote it?

Although the first public efficiency was in 1938 to have a good time Armistice Day (the end of World War I), the story really goes back to 1918 and “The Dean of American Songwriters,” the great Irving Berlin. He’d written the tune 20 years earlier, but it wasn’t until 1938 that a revised model was sung publicly:

November 9, 1938

In [a] exceptional letter, songwriter Irving Berlin writes to fellow composer Harry Ruby on the eve of “God Bless America’s” reintroduction to the world. The timing is chilling as the letter was written on the eve of the Kristallnacht program (Nov. 9–10, 1938) in Nazi Germany. Berlin reveals that Kate Smith will sing it the next evening on national radio—reviving a forgotten WWI-era tune that would turn out to be a defining American anthem. This letter, written just sooner or later before Smith’s Armistice Day broadcast, captures the quiet beginnings of what would turn out to be one of the most patriotic songs in U.S. historical past.

“God Bless America,” written by Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin), a Jewish immigrant from Russia, turned a timeless patriotic anthem. First penned in 1918 and revised in 1938, it displays Berlin’s deep love for his adopted nation. pic.twitter.com/ucyM8vIZ0f

— Reuven Goldstein (@curatorWH) July 1, 2026

Hat tip to my pal and California state senate candidate for the 22^nd district, Mike Netter, for sharing the next post.

Although technically the very first rendition by Smith was for radio in 1938, she reprised it for the 1943 Warner Bros. movie “This Is the Army,” where she carried out it with a large orchestra and choir. See if you possibly can spot a legendary former president and even the songwriter himself in the clip:

Here is the first time ever God Bless America was sung
Happy 250 America
Watch and unfold
Like and smile pic.twitter.com/9xPMImc96W

— Mike Netter (@nettermike) July 3, 2026

The music turned an quick basic:

This simple one-verse music turned an in a single day hit, and a hopeful music as struggle threatened. “It’s not a patriotic song,” composer Irving Berlin said in a 1940 interview, “but an expression of gratitude for what this country has done for its citizens, of what home really means.” Today, many Americans think about “God Bless America” an unofficial national anthem of the United States.

LAND OF THE FREE: Amidst America’s Attempted Destruction, the Songs of Freedom Remind Us Why July 4 Will Never Be Canceled

GOALLLLL! US Men’s Soccer Overcomes Garbage Red Card, Disallowed Scores to Achieve Epic World Cup Victory

For a long time, you used to hear Smith’s model at New York Yankees and Philadelphia Flyers video games, but the Left always desires to make sure you possibly can’t have good issues, so in 2019, they dragged up other songs that she had sung almost a century in the past and bought her canceled. The two groups no longer play her voice because some of the tunes have been deemed to be racist.

Critics of cancel tradition struck back, noting that Smith recorded one of the controversial “racist” songs with an African American man, and it was meant to be satirical, not hateful. Meanwhile, she didn’t precisely sound like your average KKK Grand Wizard in an interview:

Smith called for racial tolerance in 1945 in an tackle on CBS Radio, declaring, “Race hatreds, social prejudices, religious bigotry, they are the diseases that eat away the fibers of peace”. She went on to state “it is up to us to tolerate one another in order to achieve peace”.

In any case, you received’t hear her anymore at Yankees or Flyers video games.

The Left is always attempting to erase our historical past, but the issue for them is that they’ll’t. We’ve bought the paperwork, we’ve bought the videotapes, we’ve bought the contemporaneous news tales. I hope you loved Smith’s rendition. 

Now fire up those grills, show your American flags, and let the world know that you might be a loud and proud American who won’t be erased.

GOD BLESS AMERICA. 🇺🇸🎆 pic.twitter.com/RgWxYQX6BO

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 4, 2026

Editor’s Note: It’s America’s 250th birthday! Help RedState have a good time the best nation in historical past by honoring its past, defending its current, and preserving its future with reporting you possibly can trust.

Join RedState VIP and use promo code AMERICA250 to obtain 74% off your membership.