<P> Republicans decried the change, calling it an affront to the memory of Lincoln . People began referring to November 30 as the "Republican Thanksgiving" and November 23 as the "Democratic Thanksgiving" or "Franksgiving". Regardless of the politics, many localities had made a tradition of celebrating on the last Thursday, and many football teams had a tradition of playing their final games of the season on Thanksgiving; with their schedules set well in advance, they could not change . Since a presidential declaration of Thanksgiving Day was not legally binding, Roosevelt's change was widely disregarded . Twenty - three states went along with Roosevelt's recommendation, 22 did not, and some, like Texas, could not decide and took both days as government holidays . </P> <P> In 1940 and 1941, years in which November had four Thursdays, Roosevelt declared the third one as Thanksgiving . As in 1939, some states went along with the change while others retained the traditional last - Thursday date . </P> <P> On October 6, 1941, both houses of the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution fixing the traditional last - Thursday date for the holiday beginning in 1942 . However, in December of that year the Senate passed an amendment to the resolution that split the difference by requiring that Thanksgiving be observed annually on the fourth Thursday of November, which was usually the last Thursday and sometimes (two years out of seven, on average) the next to last . The amendment also passed the House, and on December 26, 1941, President Roosevelt signed this bill, for the first time making the date of Thanksgiving a matter of federal law and fixing the day as the fourth Thursday of November . </P> <P> For several years some states continued to observe the last - Thursday date in years with five November Thursdays (the next such year being 1944), with Texas doing so as late as 1956 . </P>

When was thanksgiving changed to the fourth thursday