Date: September 27, 1982
By: Ronald Reagan
Two hundred years ago, the Congress of the United States issued a
Thanksgiving Proclamation stating that it was "the indispensable
duty of all nations" to offer both praise and supplication to God.
Above all other nations of the world, America has been especially
blessed and should give special thanks. We have bountiful harvests,
abundant freedoms, and a strong, compassionate people.
I have always believed that this anointed land was set apart in an
uncommon way, that a divine plan placed this great continent here
between the oceans to be found by people from every corner of the Earth
who had a special love of faith and freedom. Our pioneers asked that He
would work His will in our daily lives so America would be a land of
morality, fairness, and freedom.
Today we have more to be thankful for than our pilgrim mothers and
fathers who huddled on the edge of the New World that first Thanksgiving
Day could ever dream. We should be grateful not only for our blessings,
but for the courage and strength of our ancestors, which enable us to
enjoy the lives, we do today. Let us reaffirm through prayers and
actions our thankfulness for America's bounty and heritage.
Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of
America, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 25, 1982, as a National
Day of Thanksgiving and I call upon all of our citizens to set aside
that day for appropriate expressions of thanksgiving.
In Witness Where Of, I have here unto set my hand this 27th day of
Sept. in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-two, and of
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
seventh.
