A president’s first Thanksgiving Day proclamation is an opportunity for the commander in chief to highlight his new administration’s accomplishments or reassure the nation at a time of gratitude and family togetherness. But President Obama’s Turkey Day bulletin Monday went in a different direction.
Obama’s declaration is short — just over 400 words — and gives no specific examples of things that Americans should rejoice in or recover from, despite his eventful first year in office.

Obama instead returned to tried-and-true themes that powered his campaign and inaugural: community organization and service. “As we gather once again among loved ones, let us also reach out to our neighbors and fellow citizens in need of a helping hand,” Obama wrote. “This is a time for us to renew our bonds with one another, and we can fulfill that commitment by serving our communities and our nation throughout the year.”

In the past, first-term presidents have used the proclamation to celebrate their achievements. President George W. Bush’s first letter came just two months after the Sept. 11 attacks, and he cited progress in the war on terror. John F. Kennedy’s mentioned his campaign against hunger through the United Nations’ Freedom From Hunger Campaign. President Bill Clinton talked up presidential peace efforts in the Middle East.

The proclamation is usually written as an open letter to the American people and is often run in small-town newspapers around the country, said University of Houston professor Brandon Rottinghaus, who studies presidential proclamations. He was struck by how brief Obama’s address was, given the times over which he is presiding, with the economic anxiety at home and the looming Afghanistan decision overseas.

“He is very vague,” Rottinghaus said. “Other presidents serving during economic difficulty or national disasters try to focus on the positive and purposely list things to be thankful for; Obama doesn’t do that either.”

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