THANKSGIVING DAY PROCLAMATION
In the spirit of official proclamation of what the people of the United States assume, the 1996 Thanksgiving Day proclamation by President William Clinton went as follows: America’s oldest tradition, Thanksgiving is also a reaffirmation of our most deeply held values; a public recognition that, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, “God who gave us life gave us liberty.” In gratitude for God’s gift of freedom and “for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us,” George Washington made Thanksgiving his first proclamation for the new Nation, and it is one we are privileged to renew each year. Much has changed for America in the two centuries since that first Thanksgiving proclamation. Generations of hardworking men and women have cultivated our soil and worked the land, and today America’s bounty helps feed the world. The promise of freedom that sustained our founders through the hardships of the Revolution and the first challenging days of…
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