President's Thanksgiving Message
Proclamation by the President
Thanksgiving Day, 2003
Each year on
Thanksgiving,
we gather with family and friends to thank God for the many blessings
He
has given us, and we ask God to continue to guide and watch over our
country.
Almost 400
years ago,
after surviving their first winter at Plymouth, the Pilgrims celebrated
a harvest feast to give thanks. George Washington proclaimed the first
National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, and Abraham
Lincoln revived
the tradition
during the Civil War. Since that time, our citizens have paused to
express
thanks for the bounty of blessings we enjoy and to spend time with
family
and friends. In want or in plenty,
in times of
challenge
or times of calm, we always have reasons to be thankful.
America is a
land of abundance,
prosperity, and hope. We must never take for granted the things that
make
our country great: a firm foundation of freedom, justice, and equality;
a belief in democracy and the rule of
law; and our
fundamental
rights to gather, speak, and worship freely.
These
liberties do not
come without cost. Throughout history, many have sacrificed to preserve
our
freedoms and to
defend
peace around the world. Today, the brave men and women of our military
continue this noble tradition. These heroes and their loved ones have
the
gratitude of our Nation.
On this day,
we also remember
those less fortunate among us. They are our neighbors and our fellow
citizens, and
we are
committed to reaching out to them and to all of those in need in our
communities.
This
Thanksgiving, we
again give thanks for all of our blessings and for the freedoms we
enjoy
every day.
Our Founders
thanked
the Almighty and humbly sought His wisdom and blessing. May we always
live
by
that same
trust, and
may God continue to watch over and bless the United States of America.
NOW,
THEREFORE, I, GEORGE
W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority
vested in me
by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim
Thursday,
November 27,
2003, as
a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage Americans to gather in
their
homes,
places of
worship, and
community centers to share the spirit of understanding and prayer and
to
reinforce ties of family and community.
IN WITNESS
WHEREOF, I
have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of November, in the
year
of our
Lord two
thousand three,
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred
and
twenty-eighth.
GEORGE W.
BUSH
