This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Book a loved by guests property with Verbo, and you get a top-rated vacation rental that's loved for all the right reasons. Ah, I love my Verbo for the location. Good reason.
Oh, and for the pool, cause pools are cool. I feel the love. Book a Verbo that's loved by guests. If you know, you Verbo. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans.
It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years, and now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 semi-quintennial coin and medal program from the United States Mint it celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins. At usmint.gov/semiq.
That's usmint.gov/semiq. Your car can be a spy. A guy's car insurance jumped over twenty percent. No accidents, no tickets. It was his car.
His automaker logged it, sold it to a data broker, and the broker sold it to his insurance company. That's why I use Incogni. It forces data brokers and people search sites to delete your information. Go to incogni.com/lee for sixty percent off. I n c o g n i dot com slash lee.
Incogni dot com slash lee. That sound? That's the National Squash League. Pro teams, the world's best players, and rallies so fast you'll forget to breathe. Season four is in full swing, and every match streams free on YouTube.
Big hits, bigger rivalries, and a front row seat from wherever you are. Watch every match for free on YouTube. Search National Squash League and hit subscribe or follow live updates on Instagram at nsl.sport. Wait, I came in for two things. How is this forty-seven dollars?
All right, we're gonna need a plan here. Just start simple with Bank of America Advantage Safe Balance Banking. No overdraft fees. No monthly maintenance fee if you're under twenty-five. Oh, that's actually really simple.
Safe balance banking, one less thing to figure out. Learn more at bva. dot com slash simple banking. Terms and conditions apply. Bank of America and a member FDIC.
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American stories. On October third, eighteen sixty-three, mere months after the deadliest man-made disaster in American history took place in Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln followed in the footsteps of our nation's first president and issued a Thanksgiving proclamation. That proclamation would go into effect on the last Thursday of November. Thanksgiving, as we know it, was born, and that's all she wrote, right?
Well, wrong. Here's Melanie Kilpatrick with the story.
So, what happened after the war ended? The tradition of the president calling a national Thanksgiving Day was well established. Every president subsequent called one, but there still was no official approval of the date. As the years went by, every president from Lincoln. Issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation naming a day of Thanksgiving.
The states would accept the date that the president had named, and everybody would celebrate on that date until FDR, Franklin Roosevelt, decided that he was going to change the date. He announced this in a press conference on August 14th, without any warning. He said, "I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Thursday, the 23rd of November, 1939." Instead of having Thanksgiving take place on the traditional date, which was the last Thursday of November, he was going to see that the holiday was celebrated one week earlier. The country was, of course, in the middle of the Great Depression.
The president's reason for changing the date was economic.
Some of his economic advisers had said that if Roosevelt made Thanksgiving a week earlier, there'd be more time for Christmas shopping, and that would boost the economy. The problem with that was that the economic theory was dubious. Americans, I think, would have been happy to spend more money on Christmas shopping, but they didn't have any money. The whole idea was economically flawed, and as it turned out, it was a bust. The country erupted.
He made the mistake of saying that there was nothing sacred about the day. The governors of the states of New England, where the original Thanksgiving had taken place, went crazy. Nothing sacred. In Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the so-called first Thanksgiving took place, the Church of the Pilgrimage, the pastor called it a callous attack on a religious tradition. We.
Here in Plymouth, consider the day sacred. Plymouth and Thanksgiving are synonymous. There is no good reason for changing it. And there were many businesses that also objected. The calendar makers were very upset because their calendars would have been erroneous.
Better than seventy percent of 1940 calendars have already been sold, and about fifty percent of fifty million dollars worth are already in production throughout the country. But why should the president stop with this slight change in the traditions of a nation? We would suggest the following: advance the observance of Thanksgiving to January first of each year, give the public fifty-one solid weeks of Christmas shopping. College football coaches were particularly upset in that era. Many colleges scheduled the final game of the season for Thanksgiving weekend, and that, of course, made it very difficult to figure out under the new regime when you had to choose which date you were going to use.
We'll vote for the Republican ticket if he interferes with our football. Alf Landon was the Republican presidential nominee. He was quick to condemn the date change and wasn't afraid to use strong language. Landon said, "More time should have been taken instead of springing it upon an unprepared country with the omnipotence of a Hitler." There could have been no stronger epitaph, and of course, the decision to change the date became known as Thanksgiving. Politicians and football coaches aside, public sentiment ran heavily against Roosevelt's plan.
The Gallup organization published the results of a national poll taken ten days after Roosevelt's announcement of the date change. Only 38 percent of Americans favored the change, while 62 percent disapproved. The survey shows that a majority of Americans, and particularly Republicans, are in favor of letting the nation's turkeys live a week longer. By 1941, it was clear that this was a mistake. The public didn't like it.
The economic statistics indicated that this wasn't working. People were not spending more money. The Wall Street Journal reported the results of a survey conducted by the New York City Department of Commerce. A headline in the Wall Street Journal said. Early Thanksgiving, not worth extra turkey or doll.
Roosevelt was very charming. He made the decision that this had been a bad idea and announced that. 1941 would be the last year that the United States would celebrate Thanksgiving on the third Thursday, and that the experiment had failed. Starting in 1942, Thanksgiving would revert to the last Thursday of the month. Shortly after Thanksgiving, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt went to Warm Springs, Georgia.
Where Roosevelt had set up a program for children who had polio, they went there every year. The president was carving the turkeys for the the patients. The polio patients were preparing an entertainment after the program. Roosevelt delivered impromptu remarks. He made a light-hearted reference to his failed campaign about changing the date of Thanksgiving.
Three years ago, I discovered I was particularly fond of turkey, so we started to have two Thanksgivings. But then, his tones turned somber. And he reminded the audience that here in America we could be thankful for peace that had lasted since the end of World War One in 1918. Most of the world was at war. We need to be thoroughly thankful that these years of peace were given to us.
It may be that the next Thanksgiving, these boys at the Military Academy and the Naval Academy. The ones who have been playing football that afternoon will be actually fighting for the defense of American institutions. Up till then, Roosevelt had, in his public statements, given the impression that America was not going to go to war. But here was a reference to the possibility that that could happen, and indeed. Eight days later, the following Sunday, Pearl Harbor took place, and of course, America went to war.
As for the date of Thanksgiving, what happened next was that Congress passed a resolution making it official. It was mandated that Thanksgiving be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It became law. In 1942, the first Thanksgiving, Roosevelt's proclamation was beautiful. Roosevelt didn't usually dwell on his faith, but on Thanksgiving Day, 1942, he did.
He read his Thanksgiving proclamation on the radio. And at the end, he read the twenty-third Psalm: "The Lord is my shepherd." Scripture reading that is often used to give comfort to those who are grieving. It was a poignant choice and a very effective one for a nation whose men were over in Europe fighting and dying. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.
He maketh me lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.
They comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. The story of FDR's failed attempt to change an American tradition here on Our American Stories. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans.
It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past two hundred and fifty years, and now it takes form in a new way. The twenty twenty six semi quincentennial coin and medal program from the United States Mint it celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official. Coins at usmint.gov/semiq.
That's usmint.gov/semiq. Wait, I came in for two things. How is this forty-seven dollars? All right, we're gonna need a plan here. Just start simple with Bank of America Advantage Safe Balance Banking.
No overdraft item fees. No monthly maintenance fee if you're under twenty-five. Oh. That's actually really simple. Safe, balanced banking.
One less thing to figure out. Learn more at bva. dot com slash simple banking. Terms and conditions apply. Bank of America and a member FDIC.
That sound? That's pro squash.
Some of the fastest rallies in sport played inches from the crowd. The National Squash League is back in full swing for season four. The sport is heading to the 2028 Olympics for the first time, and you can see it up close right now in a city near you. Watch every match for free on YouTube. Search National Squash League and hit subscribe, or follow live updates on Instagram at nsl.sport.
Ready to feel energized and in control again? At Orderly Meds, we have helped thousands just like you take charge of their health with a GLP-1. If you've tried dieting, exercising, and relying on willpower, and nothing seems to stick, then it might be time to talk to a licensed provider about your options. That's what Orderly Meds is for. This fall, choose healthier habits for yourself with a visit to orderlymeds.com.
You don't need to visit with a physician in person to become eligible. Orderly Meds has a Simple virtual process. Connect with licensed medical professionals who can determine whether a GLP one treatment may be appropriate for you wherever you are. Getting started from the comfort of home online. Change your habits and consider a new approach to feeling your best.
Visit orderlymeds dot com to learn more. That's orderlymeds dot com. Orderlymeds dot com. Gain confidence and choose better habits this fall. Compounded medications are not FDA approved.
Eligibility required and determined. By licensed provider. Individual results may vary. See website for details. A better you starts with purple.
Purple's patented gel flex grid cushions your pressure points, supports your spine, and draws away excess heat. Gel for cooling, flex for comfort, grid for support.
So you sleep cooler, wake up refreshed, and feel ready for what's next. Because better sleep changes everything. Visit purple.com or your local Purple showroom and speak with a sleep genius today.
