Read JFK’s 1963 Thanksgiving proclamation for the holiday he didn't live to see
In November 1963, President John F. Kennedy gave a proclamation about Thanksgiving. But he didn't long enough to enjoy Thanksgiving that year: JFK was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Later that day, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president of the United States.
On Thanksgiving 2023 — 60 years after JFK's death — the conservative website The Bulwark has republished his proclamation in article form.
In the proclamation, JFK discussed the unrest and "peril" the United States had, at times, suffered over the years — including the American Civil War — yet expressed optimism about the country's future.
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"Much time has passed since the first colonists came to rocky shores and dark forests of an unknown continent, much time since President Washington led a young people into the experience of nationhood, much time since President Lincoln saw the American nation through the ordeal of fraternal war," Kennedy said on November 5, 1963 — less than three weeks before he was assassinated.
"[I]n these years, our population, our plenty and our power have all grown apace," he continued. "Today, we are a nation of nearly 200 million souls, stretching from coast to coast, on into the Pacific and north toward the Arctic, a nation enjoying the fruits of an ever-expanding agriculture and industry and achieving standards of living unknown in previous history. We give our humble thanks for this."
"Yet, as our power has grown, so has our peril. Today, we give our thanks, most of all, for the ideals of honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers — for the decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of will, for the courage and the humility, which they possessed and which we must seek every day to emulate," he added. "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
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Read The Bulwark's reprint of President John F. Kennedy's Thanksgiving proclamation at this link.
