Washington believed that particular Thanksgiving in 1789 was a crucial occasion. He would use it to call on the people he now ...

Among our nation's "firsts" were the introduction of the separation of church and state and George Washington's proclamation for a "day of public thanksgiving and prayer." ...

In 1789, George Washington issued a proclamation declaring Thursday, November 26, 1789, as a "day of public thanksgiving." ...

It was not even the first national Thanksgiving – which was held on Dec. 18, 1777, at then-General Washington’s behest. Nor was Thanksgiving yet a federal holiday to be observed every last Thursday of ...

Log-in to bookmark & organize content - it's free! White House Historical Association Chief Education Officer Matthew Costello talked about the Constitutional foundations of the American presidency.

As the first president of the United States, George Washington proclaimed the first nationwide thanksgiving celebration in America, marking Nov. 26, 1789, “as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, ...

On the afternoon of April 30, 1789, George Washington was sworn in as the first president of the United States. Since Washington took his oath of office, Inauguration Day has continued to be an ...

President George Washington's personal copy of the Acts of the first Congress (1789), containing the U.S. Constitution and the proposed Bill of Rights shown before a 2012 auction in Washington. (AP ...