Proclamation 5185—Father's Day, 1984

Each year this Nation sets aside a special day on which to honor fathers for their many contributions to the strength and well-being of their children and families.

Through acts of courage, of selflessness, and of love fathers have lifted, inspired, and blessed the lives of those around them. It is fathers who have such a major role in giving their children guidance, leadership and direction and teaching them integrity, truth, and humility.

Children will forever remember the father who is devoted to his family, anxious for their welfare, proud of their successes, and whose example is a beacon to them. He has left them with memories that have enriched and molded their lives.

The love fathers express involves friendship, compassion, partnership, and unity. It inspires affection, confidence, trust, and self-control. It can never be separated from character, from devotion, from good humor, and from every tender virtue.

Fathers also provide that discipline that begins with concern and commitment and example. Children have the right to learn that love is the foundation of a good family, and that love cannot exist apart from such qualities as respect, consideration, responsibility, and loyalty. Fathers provide for their loved ones in an atmosphere of warmth and kindness that accepts and preserves the uniqueness of each as an individual person while building the unity of the home.

Every father rises to his tallest stature as he selflessly cares for his family, his wife, and his children. Our finest fathers have come to know what Martin Buber meant when he wrote that our treasure is hidden beneath the hearth of our own home.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, in accordance with the joint resolution of the Congress (36 U.S.C. 142a), do hereby proclaim Sunday, June 17, 1984, as Father's Day. I invite the States and communities and the people of the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies as a mark of gratitude and abiding affection for their fathers. I direct government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Federal government buildings, and I urge all Americans to display the flag at their homes and other suitable places on that day.

In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth.

RONALD REAGAN