Presidential Documents

96087 

Federal Register 

Vol. 89, No. 232 

Tuesday, December 3, 2024 

Title 3— 

The President 

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. 


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96088 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 232 / Tuesday, December 3, 2024 / Presidential Documents 

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. 

[FR Doc. 2024–28461 

Filed 12–2–24; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3395–F4–P 


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