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President Reagan's Thanksgiving Proclamation
Thursday, November 26, 1987; 8:00 AM
“Thanksgiving Day is one of our most beloved holidays, an occasion set aside by
Americans from earliest times to thank our Maker prayerfully and humbly for the
blessings and the care He bestows on us and on
our beautiful, bountiful land. Through the
decades, through the centuries, in log cabins,
country churches, cathedrals, homes, and halls,
the American people have paused to give thanks
to God, in times of peace and plenty or of
danger and distress.
Acknowledgement of dependence on God's
favor was, in fact, our fledgling nation's very
first order of business. When the delegates to
the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774, they overcame discord by
uniting in prayer for our country. Despite the differences among them as they began
their work, they found common votes in the 35th Psalm, which concludes with a verse of
joyous gratitude, "And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all
the day long."
This year, of course, our Thanksgiving Day celebration coincides with the bicentennial of
the Constitution. In 1789 the government established by that great charter of freedom,
and "the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed," were cited by George
Washington in the first Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation as among "the great
and various favors" conferred upon by the Lord and Ruler of Nations. As we thank the
God our first president called "that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent
Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be," we have even greater cause for
gratitude than the fresh triumphs that inspired Washington's prose. We have seen the
splendor of our natural resources spread across the tables of the world, and we have
seen the splendor of freedom coursing with new vigor through the channels of history.
The cause for which we give thanks, for which so many of our citizens through the years
have given their lives, has endured 200 years -- a blessing to us and a light to all
mankind.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1987, let us, in this unbroken chain of observance, dedicate
ourselves to honor anew the Author of Liberty and to publicly acknowledge our debt to
all those who have sacrificed so much in our behalf. May our gratitude always be
coupled with petitions for divine guidance and protection for our nation and with ready
help for our neighbors in time of need.
Now, therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby
proclaim Thursday, November 26, 1987, as a National Day of Thanksgiving, and I call
upon the citizens of this great nation to gather together in homes and places of worship
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