A Proclamation on Thanksgiving Day, 2024

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—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 battle for our nation’s independence, they found a moment for Thanksgiving. And in the midst of the struggle 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 ordinary 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 continue for generations. To anyone who has an empty seat at the dinner table, is grieving the loss of a loved one, the First Lady and I keep you in our hearts and prayers.
America is a nation of promise and opportunity—and that’s because ordinary Americans do extraordinary things every day. Our service members and veterans have given everything, risked everything, and dared everything 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 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 ensure that 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 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 thankful for. May we celebrate all that unites us – for nothing is beyond our ability if we do it together.
THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me under the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 28, 2024, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I call on the people of the United States to join together in giving 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.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.