Proclamation 4106—Law Day, USA, 1972

Reminiscing once about his long and distinguished career in the law, the late Felix Frankfurter pointedly recalled how a dispute over a legal question had ended with a colleague on the Harvard Law School faculty.

"You take law awfully seriously," his friend chided him.

Yes, Professor Frankfurter replied quietly, "That's one accusation against which I plead guilty without reservation."

"I do take law very seriously," he maintained, "because fragile as reason is and limited as law is as the expression of the institutionalized medium of reason, that's all we have standing between us and tyranny of mere will and the cruelty of unbridled, undisciplined feeling."

As America prepares to celebrate this year the fifteenth annual observance of Law Day, USA, we have only to reflect for a moment upon the impact of law in order to appreciate the reverence in which it was held by Justice Frankfurter.

Unquestionably, the rule of law underlies our entire social, economic and governmental structure. Under it, men and women can buy and sell, marry, express their personal opinions, and engage in a vast array of other activities with the assurance that their contracts will be enforced and their liberties protected. Without it, America would not have realized its unparalleled growth in prosperity, individual freedom, and equality of opportunity.

Law Day is not a day set aside for lawyers, but was established by the Congress to encourage every citizen to think anew of the central role of law in our society. This year many observances will be designed to promote greater efforts to renew our governmental institutions, strengthen the legal structure, and encourage a wider acceptance of the responsibilities of citizenship. The law, as Daniel Webster said, "has honored us, may we honor it."

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby request the observance of Monday, May 1, 1972, as Law Day in the United States of America.

And, as requested by the Congress, I urge that our people observe Law Day with appropriate public ceremonies, through public bodies and private organizations, in schools and other suitable places. I especially request that the legal profession, all media of public information, and the courts take the lead in sponsoring, participating and publicizing observances throughout the Nation. And, I call upon public officials to display the Nation's flag on public buildings on that day.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred seventy-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-sixth.

RICHARD NIXON