Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 199 / Friday, October 13, 2000 / Presidential Documents 60833

Proclamation 7360 of October 10, 2000

Eleanor Roosevelt Day, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most influential figures of the 20th century,

and her life spanned some of the most dramatic and challenging events

in modern history. Steadfast in her commitment to America, democracy,

and a world that honored human rights, she told Americans across the

Nation, ‘‘We are on trial to show what democracy means.’’ Through the

Great Depression, two world wars, the Holocaust, the creation of the United

Nations, the Cold War, and the civil rights movement, her singular integrity

and clear moral vision helped forge a better life for people around the

world.

Eleanor Roosevelt was our longest-serving First Lady, and her dedicated

efforts as a political leader, humanitarian, social activist, and journalist

have made her an icon to millions. During the 12 years of Franklin Delano

Roosevelt’s Administration, she traveled tirelessly around the country, listening to the American people’s problems, concerns, joys, and fears. She saw

firsthand the ravages that poverty, greed, ignorance, and bigotry wreaked

on the lives of ordinary Americans. She advocated strongly for our Nation’s

disadvantaged—urging an end to child labor, pushing for the establishment

of a minimum wage, speaking out for workers’ rights, confronting racial

discrimination in New Deal programs, and encouraging greater power and

independence for women in the workplace.

But perhaps her greatest achievement would come in the years after her

husband’s death. A delegate to the General Assembly of the newly created

United Nations from 1945 to 1951, Eleanor Roosevelt was elected Chairperson

of the U.N.’s Human Rights Commission in 1946. She played a pivotal

role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and its final

language vividly reflects her humanitarian ideals and uncompromising commitment to the inherent worth of every human being. The first article of

the Declaration, ‘‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity

and rights,’’ set the standard by which all future human rights charters

would be judged.

Whether working for the United Nations, the NAACP, the Girl Scouts, the

Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, or the National Conference

of Christians and Jews, Eleanor Roosevelt devoted her boundless energy

to creating a world defined by respect for and dedication to democratic

values. She was a woman ahead of her time, and her achievements transcend

her generation. As we seek to chart a steady course for America, democracy,

and human rights in this new century, we need only look to her values,

character, and accomplishments to provide us with an unfailing moral compass.

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 October 11, 2000, the

anniversary of her birthday, as Eleanor Roosevelt Day. I call upon government

officials, educators, labor leaders, employers, diplomats, human rights activists, and citizens of the United States to observe this day with appropriate

programs and activities.

60834 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 199 / Friday, October 13, 2000 / Presidential Documents

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of

October, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence

[FR Doc. 00–26539

Filed 10–12–00; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fifth.

œ–