Thanksgiving Day, 1998

Proclamation 7148 of November 17, 1998

Thanksgiving Day, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Thanksgiving Day is one of America's most beloved and
widely celebrated holidays. Whether descendants of the
original colonists or new citizens, Americans join with
family and friends to give thanks to a provident God
for the blessings of freedom, peace, and plenty.

We are a Nation of people who have come from many
countries, cultures, and creeds. The colonial
Thanksgiving at Plymouth in 1621, when the Pilgrims of
the Old World mingled in fellowship and celebration
with the American Indians of the New World,
foreshadowed the challenge and opportunity that such
diversity has always offered us: to live together in
peace with respect and appreciation for our differences
and to draw on one another's strengths in the work of
building a great and unified Nation.

And so at Thanksgiving we must also remember to be
thankful for the many contributions each generation of
Americans has made to preserve our blessings. We are
thankful for the brave patriots who have fought and
died to defend our freedom and uphold our belief in
human dignity. We are thankful for the men and women
who have worked this land throughout the decades, from
the stony farms of New England to the broad wheat
fields of the Great Plains to the fertile vineyards of
California, sharing our country's bounty with their
fellow Americans and people around the world. We are
thankful for the leaders and visionaries who have
challenged us through the years to fulfill America's
promise for all our people, to make real in our society
our fundamental ideals of freedom, equality, and
justice. We are thankful for the countless quiet heroes
and heroines who work hard each day, raise their
families with love and care, and still find time and
energy to make their communities better places in which
to live. Each of us has reason to be proud of our part
in building America, and each of us has reason to be
grateful to our fellow Americans for the success of
these efforts.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, 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 26, 1998,
as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all the
people of the United States to assemble in their homes,
places of worship, or community centers to share the
spirit of goodwill and prayer; to express heartfelt
thanks to God for the many blessings He has bestowed
upon us; and to reach out in true gratitude and
friendship to our brothers and sisters across this land
who, together, comprise our great American family.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-third.