With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

How FDR Tried To Make Thanksgiving Arrive Earlier

When a president's rendezvous with destiny puts him in a position to save his nation's economy from ruin, he probably can be forgiven for thinking it's all right to use his power to move the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

Rescheduling Thanksgiving Day is exactly what President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to do in 1939.

As NPR's Michelle Norris discussed on All Things Considered with Melanie Kirkpatrick who wrote a piece for Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, in 1939 FDR caused controversy by declaring that Thanksgiving would occur one week earlier.
Read entire article at NPR