By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
By love, by teaching, and by example, mothers have shaped the lives of men and the destinies of nations.
Through each succeeding generation American mothers have inspired their children to seek right action, to temper harsh judgment with mercy, to treasure all that is noble in human character.
Each time the courage of its sons is tested in battle, each time the compassion of its people is summoned by tragedy, want, or oppression, America has cause to thank God for the guiding spirit of motherhood.
On the second Sunday in May of each year, we celebrate that spirit and its gifts: mutual affection, steadfast devotion to family life, care and nourishment for the individual soul. On this day and throughout the year, we rejoice in the strength of character American mothers have instilled in generations of our people.
On this day, our minds acknowledge the great debt mankind owes to mothers. Our hearts declare its truth. We resolve anew to make our lives tributes and memorials to those who have proven the most potent and vital force for good in the world—the mothers of men.
On May 8, 1914, the Congress by joint resolution requested the President to issue a proclamation calling for the observance of Mother's Day.
Now, Therefore, I, Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States of America, do hereby request that Sunday, May 8, 1966, be observed as Mother's Day; and I direct the appropriate officials of the Government to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on that day.
I call upon all Americans to make Mother's Day a truly memorable occasion by expressing both publicly and privately their love and reverence for their mothers through participating in religious and other suitable observances in their honor and through loving acts of affection and esteem.
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 sixth day of May 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:
Secretary of State
NOTE: Proclamation 3723 was not filed with the Office of the Federal Register before the cutoff time of this issue. It was released at San Antonio, Tex., and as printed above follows the text transmitted by teletype prior to receipt of the White House press release.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Proclamation 3723—Mother's Day, 1966 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/305968