By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
To the People of the United States:
Whereas Almighty God in His everlasting wisdom has brought to an end the mortal life of Harlan Fiske Stone, chief Justice of the United States; and—
Whereas by this death the people of the United States have lost a distinguished lawyer and jurist who has for almost a quarter of a century contributed generously to public life as Attorney General of the United States; and—
Whereas the death of this public servant will be mourned throughout the Nation, and his life and achievement will be celebrated forever in the history of the development of our rich heritage of legal tradition;
Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, do hereby officially announce the death of Harlan Fiske Stone, stricken in the public performance of his duties in the highest Court of the Nation in the City of Washington on the twenty-second day of April, nineteen hundred and forty-six, at six forty-five o'clock in the evening.
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 twenty-third day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-six and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventieth.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
By the President
JAMES F. BYRNES
Secretary of State
Note: The President also issued Executive Order 9715 (3 CFR, 1943-1948 Comp., p. 525) which directed that, as a mark of respect to the memory of Chief Justice Stone, and in recognition of his eminent and varied public services, the flag of the United States should be flown at half-staff for 30 days on all Government buildings in the United States and in foreign countries, and that appropriate military and naval honors should be rendered.
Harry S Truman, Proclamation 2688—Death of Harlan Fiske Stone Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/232823