Proclamation 6677

by Bill Clinton

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.

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:20 a.m., April 25, 1994]