In 1980, Rhee retired from inductive licensing to devote his time to expanding his schools and traveling the world to distribute presentations on his philosophy of Tae Kwon Do. His first trip, later that year, was a return to South Korea, where Rhee was among the dinner guests for Chun's presidential inauguration, Doo-Hwan. As the first person to sign the Blue House guest book, Rhee felt especially glorified. Spending more time abroad, Rhee's influence in the United States also continued to grow. In 1982, he was asked to serve as Chairman of our nation's Fourth of July birthday celebration. Thanks to the committees he had done through his U.S. Congressional Tae Kwon Do club, Rhee was able to organize a prestigious advisory committee made up of members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Rhee's signature event for the celebration was an immensely colossal Stars and Stripes human formation, made up of Tae Kwon Do students wearing red, white and blue uniforms. In training, 229 students represented America's population of 229 million; another 206 students turned out for the 206th Independence Day. The entire group led the Celebration parade march and later performed “God Bless America” as a martial arts ballet. Although Rhee's personal prominence had reached incipient levels in America and around the world, the 1980s were a period of declining popularity for martial arts in general, at least in the United States. To counter this, Rhee began a series of martial arts business seminars in 1985 to benefit struggling school owners across the country and conducted these monthly seminars for several years. As Rhee spread his philosophy of Tae Kwon Do during this period, he specifically wanted ac...... middle of paper...... to establish an official day of recognition of our nation's builders. The Honorable E. Clay Shaw of Florida helped sponsor the National Education Appreciation Day bill in the United States Congress, and on January 28, 1986, it passed the House and Senate. President Reagan signed the bill into law on October 16, 1986. As the end of the century approached, Rhee had accomplished more than he had ever hoped for, garnering awards and recognition virtually too numerous to count. He had been named one of President George Bush's daily shining lights. His ebony belt students included not only members of Congress, but such eminent figures as Tony Robbins, Jack Valenti, and Jack Anderson. He had appeared on the cover of Parade magazine with Cheryl Tiegs. And he had been designated by Ebony Belt magazine as one of the two best living martial artists of the 20th century.