President Barack Obama talks with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, left, and Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, outside the Oval Office in the White House, June 16, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Obama, Mullen Send Thanksgiving Day Messages
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 25, 2009 – President Barack Obama and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, released Thanksgiving messages today.
Obama recalled that President George Washington proclaimed the first public thanksgiving, and President Abraham Lincoln established the annual Thanksgiving Day holiday to mend the nation during the Civil War.
It is Thanksgiving as a unique American tradition that “binds us together as one people, each of us thankful for our common blessings,” the president said.
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