Who issued the first U.S. presidential Thanksgiving proclamation under the Constitution?

George Washington issued the first U.S. presidential Thanksgiving proclamation under the Constitution.

At Congress’s request, Washington proclaimed October 3, 1789, that Thursday, November 26, would be a national day of public thanksgiving and prayer. He issued the proclamation while the federal government was temporarily based in New York City.

The observance followed an older tradition. The Continental Congress had already issued thanksgiving proclamations during the Revolutionary War, including a national thanksgiving in 1777 after the American victory at Saratoga. Washington’s proclamation was the first presidential one under the new constitutional government.

This event should not be confused with the modern federal holiday schedule. Congress later established Thanksgiving as a recurring national holiday, and President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation helped create the annual observance now associated with the fourth Thursday of November.