National Day of Prayer

National days of prayer have occurred since 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the nation to join in a petition for divine guidance. Since then, 34 of 44 U.S. presidents have called for days of prayer during times of crisis, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. This has been the tradition of our nation from its founding. [1]

According to Shirley Dobson, 10 of our Presidents never called for days of prayer. I am curious as to who the ten were. The National Day of Prayer was signed into law by our 33rd President Harry Truman, so every president since 1953 has call for a day of prayer at least once a year: Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Obama. That’s 11 of our 44 Presidents. (Out of that lot, only 10 ceremonies have been held for the NDP: one by Reagan, one by G H Bush, and eight by G W Bush) We now have 33 Presidents left. It is 10 out of 33 or basically a little less than one third. My point is that while 23 is more than 10, there is a sizable minority that did not call for days of prayer. The scales are not as weighted as they appear.[2]