CNSNews has the story:
In the first proclamation declaring a national day of Thanksgiving, in 1789, President George Washington referenced God 16 times. For comparison, President Donald Trump referenced God 6 times in his recent proclamation, and back in 2016, his last year in office, then-President Barack Obama referenced God once.
In his Oct. 3, 1789 proclamation, President Washington declared November 26, 1789 “to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be….”
President Washington, the “father” of our country, further spoke of the “duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor….”