Thanksgiving Day, 2024

Proclamation 10865 of November 27, 2024

Thanksgiving Day, 2024

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

This Thanksgiving, as families, friends, and loved ones
gather in gratitude, may we all celebrate the many
blessings of our great Nation.

Thanksgiving is at the heart of America's spirit of
gratitude--of finding light in times of both joy and
strife. The Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving
to honor a successful harvest, made possible by the
generosity and kindness of the Wampanoag people. On the
way to Valley Forge, as General George Washington and
his troops continued the fierce struggle for our
Nation's independence, they found a moment for
Thanksgiving. And amid the fight to preserve our Union
during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln
established Thanksgiving as a national holiday, finding
gratitude in the courage of the American people who
sacrifice so much for our country.

We are a good Nation because we are a good people. The
First Lady and I remain inspired by the everyday
Americans who lift this country up and push us forward.
Today, so many are among their family and friends,
celebrating the love that binds them and creating new
traditions that will carry on for generations. To
anyone with an empty seat at the dinner table, grieving
the loss of a loved one, the First Lady and I hold you
in our hearts and prayers.

America is a Nation of promise and possibilities--and
that is because, every day, ordinary Americans are
doing extraordinary things. Our service members and
veterans have given all, risked all, and dared all to
keep our Nation free. Our first responders,
firefighters, and police officers risk their lives
every day to keep the rest of us safe. I can see the
best of America in them and in our workers and union
leaders, public servants and teachers, doctors and
scientists, and all who give their heart and soul to
ensuring people are treated with dignity and respect.
And I find hope in our Nation's families, who sacrifice
so much to achieve the American Dream and build a
future worthy of our highest aspirations.

This Thanksgiving--the last one I will declare as
President--I express my gratitude to the American
people. Serving as President has been the honor of a
lifetime. America is the greatest country on Earth, and
there is so much to be grateful for. May we celebrate
all that unites us--because there is nothing beyond our
capacity if we do it together.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday,
November 28, 2024, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I
encourage the people of the United States of America to
join together and give thanks for the friends,
neighbors, family members, and communities who have
supported each other over the past year in a reflection
of goodwill and unity.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
ninth.