President George Washington aimed to unify the country with his first Thanksgiving message. Getty Images Maurizio Valsania, Università di Torino. On Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, George Washington ...

Our first president used the holiday to unite a divided nation. So can we. Washington’s Thanksgiving and Ours On Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, George Washington woke early. Assisted by his enslaved ...

Washington was not the only U.S. president to issue proclamations around the November holiday. In 1815, President James Madison called for a national day of prayer and thanksgiving, and in 1863 ...

The Father of His Country: George Washington And then, thank goodness, there is George Washington , who in 1789 issued the First Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation in these words: ...

Before Thanksgiving became the prominent late November holiday, ... Gen. George Washington parades through Lower Manhattan on Evacuation Day on Nov. 25, 1783 ...

George Washington, our first president, issued the first official Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789, but the national holiday didn’t begin until 1863, two years into the Civil War, when it was ...

From George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to Franklin Roosevelt, the date for Thanksgiving has changed, much to the dismay of some.

President George Washington even issued the first national Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789, but it wasn't a permanent holiday, according to The Center for Legislative Archives.

On Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, George Washington woke early. Assisted by his enslaved valets – William “Billy” Lee and the young Christopher Sheels – he powdered his hair, put on his favorite ...