Ronald Reagan

“ To remind us of our own rich heritage and the blessings of life in America, 1987 has been designated the National Year of Thanksgiving. It is no coincidence that this is the year in which we celebrate the 200th anniversary of our Constitution.
The early settlers of our country possessed a strength and a conviction based on their faith in God that helped them withstand the rigors and hardships of carving a nation out of wilderness. They laid a firm foundation built on the worth, dignity, and inalienable rights of the individual. ”

“ We, as a people, have been truly blessed, and for these blessings we should be everlastingly grateful to the God to Whose providence this Nation was committed from its very inception. President Washington issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1789 "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful heart the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness." ”

“ We look to the future of our Nation in this same spirit. Let us thank God for our constitutional form of government, for our precious freedoms of speech, assembly, religion, and the press, and for all those who sacrificed to preserve them in peace and in war for two centuries. ”