Proclamation 4081—Leif Erikson Day, 1971

Nearly a thousand years ago Leif Erikson, a bold and intrepid Norseman, left familiar waters with a small band of men to face the dangers of the North Atlantic and sail to the shores of this continent. The exploits of Leif Erikson are still in large part shrouded in the mists of history, and only now are we beginning to appreciate fully the magnitude of those explorations.

If the details of Leif Erikson's adventures are still hidden from our view, his courage is not. He and his shipmates are worthy guides to us today, and our journey into the unknown still draws inspiration from them. It is therefore most appropriate that we give national recognition to Leif Erikson, and I am most happy to meet the request of the Congress of the United States, in a joint resolution approved September 2, 1964 (78 Stat. 849), that the President proclaim October 9 in each year as Leif Erikson Day.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Saturday, October 9, 1971, as Leif Erikson Day; and I direct the appropriate Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings that day.

I also invite the people of the United States to honor the memory of Leif Erikson on that day by holding appropriate exercises and ceremonies.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-sixth.

RICHARD NIXON