Proclamation 5917—National Sir Winston Churchill Recognition Week, 1988

Soldier, author, orator, and statesman, Sir Winston Churchill was one of the towering figures of our century. A man of powerful intellect and deep personal courage, his fierce dedication to freedom changed the course of modern history and left his countrymen, and people everywhere, with an immortal example of the invincibility of the human spirit.

Sir Winston's unflagging pursuit of his vision of a world freed from the threat of tyranny rallied his countrymen to their "finest hour." In the darkest days of World War II, his eloquent speeches and his tenacious character spurred the citizens and fighting men on both sides of the Atlantic to continue their struggle until victory was finally won.

The qualities that stood England in good stead during the War had been formed many years earlier, during Churchill's military service in Cuba, India, Egypt, and South Africa, where he wrote the brilliant dispatches and accounts that first brought him to the attention of the domestic populace. These writings, plus additional biographical and autobiographical works, were the precursors of his celebrated multivolume history of World War II and the four-volume A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. Both his actions and his writings bear witness to the seriousness with which he took Santayana's observation that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. For his achievements in the world of letters, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1953.

The close ties that Churchill forever championed between the people of the United States and Great Britain are evident in the details of his personal biography. He was the son of Randolph Churchill, a British citizen, and Jennie Churchill, an American. In his correspondence and books, in his speeches and his travels, he was a consistent and forceful advocate of transatlantic cooperation and unity. He saw our nations as joined by historic destiny in the struggle to prevent the drawing down of the curtain of tyranny over all mankind. On April 9, 1963, 2 years before his death, the United States recognized the extraordinary contributions of Sir Winston Churchill and granted him honorary American citizenship. It is wholly fitting that our Nation pause again to honor a great friend of liberty for whom no final word of praise and thanks may ever be written.

In honor of Sir Winston Churchill, the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 340, has designated November 27 through December 3, 1988, as "National Sir Winston Churchill Recognition Week" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of that week.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim November 27 through December 3, 1988, as National Sir Winston Churchill Recognition Week and call upon the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirteenth.

RONALD REAGAN