[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 80 (Tuesday, April 26, 1994)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 21913-21914]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-10248]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 26, 1994]


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Part XIV





The President





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Proclamation 6677--
Announcing the Death of Richard Milhous Nixon

Executive Order 12910--Providing for the Closing of Government 
Departments and Agencies on April 27, 1994


                        Presidential Documents 


Federal Register
Vol. 5, No. 80
Tuesday, April 26, 1994

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Title 3--
The President
                Proclamation 6677 of April 22, 1994

 
Announcing the Death of Richard Milhous Nixon

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES:

                It is with deep sadness that I announce officially the 
                death of Richard Milhous Nixon, the thirty-seventh 
                President of the United States, on April 22, 1994.

                A naval officer cited for meritorious service in World 
                War II, Richard Nixon has long been a fixture in our 
                national life. In a career of public service that 
                spanned a quarter of a century, he helped to shape 
                American history. Before taking office as President in 
                1969, he served with distinction in the United States 
                House of Representatives, in the United States Senate, 
                and as Vice President in the Eisenhower Administration. 
                From his early days in the Congress, through his tenure 
                in the White House, and throughout the two decades that 
                have passed since he left office, he remained a fierce 
                advocate for freedom and democracy around the world.

                Leaders in statecraft and students of international 
                affairs will long look for guidance to President 
                Nixon's tremendous accomplishments. His struggle to 
                bridge the gaps between the United States and the 
                former Soviet Union--beginning in the famous ``kitchen 
                debate'' with Nikita Khrushchev and culminating with 
                the detente of the early 1970s--helped to maintain the 
                peace during a volatile era. Our improved relationship 
                with the Chinese people today has grown from President 
                Nixon's bold visit to China over 20 years ago. And in 
                the many books he wrote more recently, he presented a 
                cogent picture of emerging global politics that will 
                serve as a guide for policy makers for years to come.

                President Nixon offered our Nation a great many 
                positive domestic initiatives as well. His work to 
                clean up the environment, change our Nation's welfare 
                system, improve law enforcement, and reform health care 
                serves as an inspiration to us today as we seek to 
                place the ``American Dream'' within the grasp of all of 
                our citizens.

                In his book, In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat 
                and Renewal, President Nixon wrote, ``I believe . . . 
                that the richness of life is not measured by its length 
                but by its breadth, its height and its depth.'' This 
                is, indeed, a most fitting epitaph for his remarkable 
                life. He suffered defeats that would have ended most 
                political careers, yet he won stunning victories that 
                many of the world's most popular leaders have failed to 
                attain. On this solemn day, we recognize the 
                significant value of his contributions to our Nation, 
                and we pray that he left us with enough of his wisdom 
                to guide us safely into the next century.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by the authority vested in me 
                by the Constitution and laws of the United States, in 
                tribute to the memory of President Nixon and as an 
                expression of public sorrow, do hereby direct that the 
                flag of the United States be displayed at half-staff at 
                the White House and on all buildings, grounds, and 
                naval vessels of the United States for a period of 30 
                days from the day of his death. I also direct that for 
                the same length of time the representatives of the 
                United States in foreign countries shall make similar 
                arrangements for the display of the flag at half-staff 
                over their Embassies, Legations, and other facilities 
                abroad, including all military facilities and stations.

                I hereby order that suitable honors be rendered by 
                units of the Armed Forces under orders of the Secretary 
                of Defense on the day of the funeral.

                I do further appoint the day of interment to be a 
                National Day of Mourning throughout the United States. 
                I encourage the American people to assemble on that day 
                in their respective places of worship to pay homage to 
                the memory of President Nixon and to seek God's 
                continued blessing on our land. I invite the people of 
                the world who share our grief to join us in this solemn 
                observance.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and eighteenth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)>

[FR Doc. 94-10248
Filed 4-25-94; 11:20 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P

                Editorial note: For the President's remarks on the 
                death of President Nixon, see issue 17 of the Weekly 
                Compilation of Presidential Documents.