Proclamation 3940—National Day of Prayer, 1969

John Adams was the first President to live in the executive residence we call the White House. His first night there, he wrote a letter to his wife, Abigail, in which he said: "Before I end my letter, I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but wise and honest men ever rule under this roof."

This is a brief, unadorned prayer. Yet its very simplicity speaks to us today, across the years that separate the time of Adams from our own. Prayer knows no boundary of time; we in America today, in the spirit of Adams, seek the blessing of God on our nation and its leaders.

At a time in our nation's history when the power of prayer is needed more than ever, it is fitting that we publicly demonstrate our faith in the power of prayer.

Sensible of our people's faith, the Congress, by joint resolution of April 17, 1952, provided that the President "shall set aside and proclaim a suitable day each year, other than a Sunday, as a National Day of Prayer, on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals."

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby set aside Wednesday, October 22, as National Day of Prayer, 1969. And I ask that on this day the people of the United States pray for the achievement of America's goal of peace with justice for all people throughout the world.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred sixty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-fourth.

RICHARD NIXON