Proclamation 3268—Law Day, 1959

Whereas a free people can assure the blessings of liberty for themselves only if they recognize the necessity that the rule of law shall be supreme, and that all men shall be equal before the law; and

Whereas this Nation was conceived by our forefathers as a nation of free men enjoying ordered liberty under law, and the supremacy of the law is essential to the existence of the Nation; and

Whereas appreciation of the importance of law in the daily lives of our citizens is a source of national strength which contributes to public understanding of the necessity for the rule of law and the protection of the rights of the individual citizen; and

Whereas by directing the attention of the world to the liberty under law which we enjoy and the accomplishments of our system of free enterprise, we emphasize the contrast between our freedom and the tyranny which enslaves the people of one-third of the world today; and

Whereas in paying tribute to the rule of law between men, we contribute to the elevation of the rule of law and its application to the solution of controversies between nations:

Now, Therefore, I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Friday, May 1, 1959, as Law Day in the United States of America.

I urge the people of the United States to observe Law Day with appropriate public ceremonies and by the reaffirmance of their dedication to our form of government and the supremacy of law in our lives. I especially urge the legal profession, the schools and educational institutions, and all media of public information to take the lead in sponsoring and participating in appropriate observances throughout the Nation.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this thirty-first day of December in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-eight and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-third.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

By the President:
CHRISTIAN A. HERTER,
Acting Secretary of State