Page 9 - Leisure Living Holiday 2015

Wilson’s Thanksgiving Proclamation
By Justice Paul Pfeifer, Ohio Supreme Court
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand – heir to the throne of the Austro-Hun-
garian Empire – was assassinated in
Sarajevo. Ferdinand’s assassina-
tion set of a chain reaction that led the nations of Eu- rope – bound by various treaties – to declare war
on one another. And as the dominoes fell, British Foreign Secre- tary Sir Edward Grey uttered his now-fa- mous lament: “he lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”
But as the lamps went
out in Europe, Ameri-
ca remained steadfastly neutral and uninvolved. And President Woodrow Wilson was determined to keep it that way.
As president, one of Wilson’s
duties was to issue a hanks-
giving Proclamation every year.
hat tradition began in 1863,
during the Civil War, when President Lincoln in- vited Americans to “set apart and observe the last hursday of November” to give thanks to “our be- neicent Father.” Lincoln’s 1863 Proclamation be- gan the tradition that has been followed by every president since.
Most presidential hanksgiving Proclamations aren’t terribly speciic, but reading through Wil- son’s proclamations is like reading a history of the era; they encapsulate his changing attitude re- garding the war and America’s role in the world.
For his irst hanksgiving in 1913, Wilson sounded an optimistic note that would dimin- ish as the years rolled by. He was thankful for “peace throughout our own borders and with
the nations of the world.” He also praised the “practical completion” of the Panama Canal, “which.promises the be- ginning of a new age.and new achievements of cooperation and peace.” Sadly, his hopes for a new age would be dashed by the realities of
a lengthy, brutal war. Nevertheless, his proclamation the next year was still largely upbeat, even though the war had begun. He wrote that 1914, “while a year of dis- cipline because of the mighty forces of war and of change which have disturbed the world,” was also “a year of special blessing for us.” He was grateful that we had remained “at peace, with honour, and in some part to suc- cour the sufering and supply the needs of those who are in want.” In May 1915, a German subma- rine torpedoed the passenger ship Lusitania. Of the 1,198 civilians killed, 128 were American. he unprovoked attack angered the public, and many Americans began to advo-
cate going to war with Germany.
But Wilson’s 1915 hanksgiving Proclamation
didn’t mention the Lusitania. While he remained opposed to entering the war, he was, however, beginning to acknowledge its increasing impact on us. He wrote, “Another year of peace has been vouchsafed us; another year in which not only to take thought of our duty to ourselves and to man- kind but also to adjust ourselves to the many re- sponsibilities thrust upon us by a war which has involved almost the whole of Europe.”
Continued on page 10
Holiday 2015 LeisureLiving | 9
he First hanksgiving
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