Statement

Today, we celebrate our Nation’s most prolific inventor and a man who never stopped pushing the spirit of American innovation: the legendary Thomas Edison. On what would have been his 179th birthday, we honor his life, determination, and extraordinary legacy of American entrepreneurship and ingenuity and look to his example as we continue building the Golden Age of America.

Born into humble means in Ohio and raised in Michigan, Thomas Edison’s life represents the resilience and determination that it takes to build the American Dream. Edison had virtually no formal education and was afflicted with deafness at a young age. Despite these challenges, he was a voracious reader who constantly tinkered with mechanics, electricity, and scientific experiments. In his early twenties, he received his first patent for an electrical recorder and soon devoted himself entirely to invention and innovation. He would ultimately go on to develop more than 1,000 patents and design some of the greatest inventions of his time, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, the alkaline storage battery, and most famously, the incandescent light bulb. Through constant trial and error, his inventions bettered the lives of everyday Americans and people all around the world.

My Administration is proudly carrying Thomas Edison’s legacy forward into the 21st century, ushering in a new Golden Age of American innovation and ingenuity. Since returning to office, we have empowered the next generation of innovators by deregulating industries and enacting historic tax cuts for small businesses. And I will always remain committed to ensuring America retains our competitive edge across every sphere.

As we celebrate Thomas Edison’s timeless contributions to our way of life, we are reminded that technological advancement is achieved through hard work, tenacity, and an unwavering commitment to forging a great American future. On his birthday, I call on every American to dare to dream big, achieve the impossible, and embrace the opportunity to be an outsider because, like Thomas Edison, it is the outsiders who change the world.

Happy birthday, Thomas Edison!