Proclamation 3560—Thanksgiving Day, 1963 | The American Presidency Project
presidency.ucsb.edu
Proclamation 3560—Thanksgiving Day, 1963 | The American Presidency Project
George Washington declared a Thanksgiving Day in February 1795. John Adams declared one in 1798 and one in 1799. Thomas Jefferson chose not to declare any. It wasn’t until 1863—the middle of the Civil War—that Abraham Lincoln, in an effort to unify the fractured nation, proclaimed the last Thursday of every November a national holiday.
Jonathan Safran Foer • We Are the Weather
The first official national "Thanksgiving Day," established on November 26, 1789, was originally created by George Washington for "giving thanks for the Constitution."
Todd E. Creason • Freemasons
There’s a famous WWI poem about how one generation sacrifices for another, hopes that they can carry the work onwards. “To you from failing hands we throw,” it reads, “The torch; be yours to hold it high.”