Date: October 13, 1986
By: 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 majesties
Above 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.
