Who was known for leading a campaign for thanksgiving as a national holiday?

Answer 1

Abraham Lincoln signed the proclamation making Thanksgiving an annual national holiday, but Sarah Josepha Hale is actually responsible for Thanksgiving becoming a national holiday. She spent 30 years writing letters to politicians and speaking up for it to become one. Lincoln simply responded to her efforts.

Answer 2

Four people deserve credit for getting Thanksgiving recognized as a natinal holiday. The first was first U.S. President George Washington [February 22, 1732-December 14, 1799]. He issued a presidential proclamation to that effect on October 3, 1789.

Second was Sarah Josepha Buell Hale [October 24, 1788-April 30, 1879]. She contacted five U.S. presidents in her lobbying for Thanksgiving as a national holiday. She bridged the gap in time between the first and second presidential proclamations in favor of a national Day of Thanksgiving.

Third was 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln [February 12, 1809-April 15, 1865]. He was the only one of five presidents to listen to Hale's arguments. He accordingly issued his presidential proclamation on October 3, 1865.

Fourth was 32nd U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt[January 30, 1882-April 12, 1945]. He recognized the importance of Thanksgiving in terms of remembrance of things past and in terms of business recovery from the Great Depression. He succeeded in having the day observed on the fourth Thursday of November. He felt that a fifth Thursday observance cut into Christmas shopping profits for businesses.

Answer 3

Sarah Josepha Buell Hale [October 24, 1788-April 30, 1879] was responsible for Thanksgiving becoming a national holiday. She spent 17 years trying to get the widely variable regional observation standardized to the national level. She contacted every president since 1846. She finally succeeded in persuading the fifth president with whom she was in contact. That gentleman was 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln [February 12, 1809-April 15, 1865]. The President acted promptly, in issuing the Lincoln Proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving on October 3, 1863.

Answer 4

Franklin Roosevelt got Congress to change Thanksgiving from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday in order to give more shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Answer 5

Sarah Hale