By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Sir Winston Churchill said of his own career: "These years of action and advocacy comprise and express my life-effort, and I am content to be judged upon them."
The judgment of history upon the life of Sir Winston Churchill is already generous. But it is not yet final, and it may never be. That judgment will grow so long as freedom grows. It will grow more luminous and meaningful with every generation, as increasing numbers of free men and nations discover their great debt to this great man.
We Americans have uncommon bonds with Sir Winston Churchill. His life fused so much with our lives, his dreams became so much a part of our dreams, that the Congress directed the President to declare him an honorary citizen of our country. Today, on the third anniversary of that Act of April 9, 1963, we do Sir Winston further and deserved honor. We reflect once more on the monumental achievements of his life. We recall again how much he ennobled our own lives. We reassert our gratitude for the impact of his courageous will upon the history of our times.
In recognition thereof, the Congress has by joint resolution approved April 9, 1966, designated April 9, 1966, as "Sir Winston Churchill Day" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to honor the memory of Sir Winston Churchill on that day.
Now, Therefore, I, Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States of America, do, in conformity with that action, call on the people of the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities in memory of Sir Winston Churchill—brave ally, cherished friend, and honored citizen.
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 9th day of April in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninetieth.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
By the President:
DEAN RUSK
Secretary of State
NOTE: Proclamation 3714 was read by Secretary of State Dean Rusk at the unveiling of the statue of Sir Winston Churchill at the British Embassy in Washington at 10:30 a.m., April 9, 1966. It was not made public in the form of a White House press release.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Proclamation 3714—Sir Winston Churchill Day Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/305930