Eric on The Road

Journeys into the offbeat, off the beaten path, overlooked and forgotten - by Eric Model

Monday, February 19, 2007

Just Why is it Presidents' Day & Why Is It When It Is ?

I'm from an era when February had three holidays - Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's Birthday - with Valentine's Day in the middle (Groundhog Day was a curiosity lasting for about 1 hour during morning radio drive time).

Now things are different. They say that Presidents Day is an outgrowth of George Washington's birthday.

Washington was actually born on February 12, 1731/32 of the Julian calendar, in use before England's calendar reformation in September 1752. His birthday is equivalent to February 22, 1732 in the Gregorian calendar used since 1752. Later in life, Washington himself considered February 22 to be his birthday.

Public celebrations for George Washington's birthday actually predate his term as president, in honor of his service during the Revoltionary War.

Observance of Washington's Birthday on the third Monday of February dates to the Uniform Moinday Holiday Bill of 1968, which became effective in 1971. A draft of that bill called for a Presidents Day to honor both Washington and Lincoln, but the Judiciary Committee voted the change down. The Congressional Record notes that had supporters insisted on changing the holiday's name, the entire bill would have remained in committee. Supporters of the bill assured Congress the Monday selected would be a day on which Washington's birth date would occasionally fall, but this was incorrect. The Monday on which Washington's birth date would have occasionally fallen would have been the fourth Monday in February.

In the late 1980s, advertisers began playing a role in changing the holiday title. In 1986, when Congress implemented the second federal holiday tribute to an American-born citizen, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of Georgia, they chose a Monday on which King's birthday would occasionally fall. With neither Washington's birthdate of February 22, due to the Congressional error, nor Lincoln's birthdate of February 12, ever falling on the third Monday, the way was open to promote a generic agenda.

Advertisers, noting the discrepancy, began to aggressively amalgamate separate Lincoln and Washington birthday sales into a longer "Presidents Day" sales period. The popularity of the term grew, and in the process the emphasis on Washington and his achievements began to diminish.

Interestingly enough, although Georgia celebrates Washington's Birthday, the Governor is accorded the right to designate when state holidays occur. In Georgia, Washington's Birthday is recognized the day after Christmas.

Finally, There is an urban legend that when the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was implemented in 1971, President Richard issued a proclamation calling for a Presidents Day on the third Monday to honor all U.S. presidents, including himself. Each February both the Law Library at the Library of Congress and the Nixon Library field an upsurge in calls on this question. No evidence of this exists in Nixon's official papers.

As of 2006, the federal government and many state and local governments still officially designate the holiday as Washington's Birthday. Many private employers and calendar makers refer to it as Presidents Day.

(From Wikipedia)

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