Date: October 13, 1986
By the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan
Perhaps no custom reveals our character as a Nation so clearly as our
celebration of Thanksgiving Day. Rooted deeply in our Judeo-Christian heritage,
the practice of offering thanksgiving underscores our unshakable belief in God
as the foundation of our Nation and our firm reliance upon Him from whom all
blessings flow. Both as individuals and as a people, we join with the Psalmist
in song and praise: "Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good."One of the most
inspiring portrayals of American history is that of George Washington on his
knees in the snow at Valley Forge. That moving image personifies and testifies
to our Founders' dependence upon Divine Providence during the darkest hours of
our Revolutionary struggle. It was then - when our mettle as a Nation was tested
most severely - that the Sovereign and Judge of nations heard our plea and came
to our assistance in the form of aid from France. Thereupon General Washington
immediately called for a special day of thanksgiving among his troops.Eleven
years later, President Washington, at the request of the Congress, first
proclaimed November 26, 1789, as Thanksgiving Day. In his Thanksgiving Day
Proclamation, President Washington exhorted the people of the United States to
observe "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer" so that they might acknowledge
"with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by
affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for
their safety and happiness." Washington also reminded us that "it is the duty of
all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to
be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and
favor."Today let us take heart from the noble example of our first President.
Let us pause from our many activities to give thanks to almighty God for our
bountiful harvests and abundant freedoms. Let us call upon Him for continued
guidance and assistance in all our endeavors. And let us ever be mindful of the
faith and spiritual values that have made our Nation great and that alone can
keep us great. With joy and gratitude in our hearts, let us sing those stirring
stanzas:O beautiful for spacious skies,For amber waves of grain,For purple
mountain majestiesAbove the fruited plain!America! America!God shed His grace on
thee.Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of
America, in the spirit of George Washington and the Founders, do hereby proclaim
Thursday, November 27, 1986, as a National Day of Thanksgiving, and I call upon
every citizen of this great Nation to gather together in homes and places of
worship on that day of thanks to affirm by their prayers and their gratitude the
many blessings bestowed upon this land and its people.In Witness Where Of, I
have here unto set my hand this thirteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-six, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and eleventh.
