'Tis the season

By Brian Wililams, Anchor and managing editor

It won't surprise some of you to learn that I'm one of those dads who makes a special point, each year at Thanksgiving and Christmas, to seek out the president's proclamation and read it aloud to my wife and children (as my father did to me) as they flee the room. I've always been interested in such things, and when I covered the White House I always eagerly grabbed a copy of the fresh, actual press release when it was put in the bins in the West Wing press room. I don't recall anyone else grabbing a copy. It's in that spirit (I know how to build excitement, don't I?) that I offer the following. A collection of the thoughts and wishes of our Chief Executives over the years during this holiday season. A list of sources for these quotes can be found below.

My fellow Americans:

There are many men and women in America -- sincere and faithful men and women -- who are asking themselves this Christmas: How can we light our trees? How can we give our gifts? How can we meet and worship with love and with uplifted spirit and heart in a world at war, a world of fighting and suffering and death? How can we pause, even for a day, even for Christmas Day, in our urgent labor of arming a decent humanity against the enemies which beset it? How can we put the world aside, as men and women put the world aside in peaceful years, to rejoice in the birth of Christ? (1)
It is well in this solemn hour that we bow to Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, and Lincoln as we face our destiny with its hopes and fears -- its burdens and its responsibilities. Out of the past we shall gather wisdom and inspiration to chart our future course. (2)
In the light of Christmas, the dark curtains of the world are drawn aside for the moment. We see more clearly our neighbors next door, and our neighbors in other nations. We see ourselves and the responsibilities that belong to us. (3)
This has been a year of peril when the peace has been sorely threatened. But it has been a year when peril was faced and when reason ruled. As a result, we may talk, at this Christmas, just a little bit more confidently of peace on earth, good will to men. (4)
We can -- we do -- live tonight in new hope and new confidence and new faith in ourselves and in what we can do together through the future… We must remember, and we must never forget, that the hopes and the fears of all the years rest with us, as with no other people in all history. (5)
There are times, of course, when we tire of the challenge. There are times when we would not like to accept that position of leadership, but let us remember that unless America, at this time in history, accepts the responsibility to lead for peace, we may not have it in the world. (6)
The true spirit of this season can best be seen in our faces. The children here tonight, like millions of children around the world, reflect the wonder and the excitement of anticipation. Those of us who are older look forward to the warmth of reunions with families and with friends. Traditions, treasured memories, shared hopes -- these are the ties that bind families together and nations together. (7)
Our Nation is not one of solemn faces and sad demeanors, but our Nation is one of hope and vision and even happiness. And Christmas is a time to remind us that even when we do suffer and are disappointed in the United States and live even a dismal life, compared to our own immediate neighbors, compared to most of the rest of the world, we indeed have a joyous life and a wonderful life. God has blessed us in this country. (8)
Tonight, in millions of American homes, the glow of the Christmas tree is a reflection of the love Jesus taught us. Like the shepherds and wise men of that first Christmas, we Americans have always tried to follow a higher light, a star, if you will. At lonely campfire vigils along the frontier, in the darkest days of the Great Depression, through war and peace, the twin beacons of faith and freedom have brightened the American sky. At times our footsteps may have faltered, but trusting in God's help, we've never lost our way. (9)
Events during the past year have given us a renewed sense of hope, yet in some parts of the world, peace remains an elusive blessing this Christmas. Even in some of our own cities, poverty, despair, and drug-related violence prevent families and individuals from sharing in the promise of this season. Therefore, let us strive, by following Christ's example in word and deed, to make peace on Earth a reality for all of God's children. (10)
As we gather to decorate our trees and light our menorahs, let us remember the true meaning of the holidays by taking some time to give to those who need it most. And let us be thankful for the sacrifices of all those who serve us, especially those who serve us in the military who won't be home this year for Christmas. (11)
As we approach Christmas in this time of war, we pray for freedom and justice and peace on Earth. In his Christmas Eve address to the Nation in 1941, Franklin Roosevelt said, "Against enemies who preach the principles of hate and practice them, we set our faith in human love, and in God's care for us and all men everywhere." (12)
It is in that spirit, and with particular thoughtfulness of those, our sons and brothers, who serve in our armed forces on land and sea, near and far -- those who serve for us and endure for us that we light our Christmas candles now across the continent from one coast to the other on this Christmas Eve. (1)
I give you and send you one and all, old and young, a Merry Christmas and a truly Happy New Year. And so, for now and for always "God Bless Us Every One." (13)

Thank you for reading that. You will please forgive me if I take some time to be with the above-mentioned family over the holiday break. Please show Lester Holt and all who sit in the chair the very same wonderful loyalty you show me night after night, in thick and thin and for better or worse. I'll see you before too long, when the Holidays will give way to politics, as 2008 gets off to a galloping start. Happy Holidays -- Merry Christmas -- Happy New Year to you and yours. And thanks for all you've done for us this past year.

(1) Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 24, 1941
(2) Harry S. Truman, December 24, 1945
(3) Dwight D. Eisenhower, December 20, 1956
(4) John F. Kennedy, December 17, 1962
(5) Lyndon B. Johnson, December 22, 1963
(6) Richard M. Nixon, December 14, 1973
(7) Gerald R. Ford, December 17, 1974
(8) Jimmy Carter, December 15, 1977
(9) Ronald Reagan, December 23, 1981
(10) George H.W. Bush, December 18, 1990
(11) Bill Clinton, December 11, 2000
(12) George W. Bush, December 1, 2005
(13) Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 24, 1933