Today is Presidents’ Day. It’s a federal holiday thanks to the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill passed by Congress in 1968. Actually, I’ve always been a little confused as to exactly what the day commemorates. When I was growing up, the February “holidays” I remember were Valentine’s Day, Washington’s birthday and Lincoln’s birthday. I know Valentine’s Day wasn’t a holiday and we had to go to school, but it was a fun day at school because we always had a Valentine party. Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays were days off from school. I don’t remember any big celebrations, but we didn’t have to go to school on their birthdays.
But in 1968 the bill passed by Congress, intended to create more three-day weekends for federal employees, moved the observance of three existing federal holidays (Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day) from fixed calendar dates to designated Mondays. It also added a new federal holiday, Columbus Day, that would also be observed on a Monday. (Legislation passed several years later restored the observance of Veterans Day to November 11.) The legislation changed the observance of Washington’s Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February. It’s interesting that Washington’s Birthday can never be celebrated on his “actual” birthday, because the third Monday in February cannot fall any later than February 21.
All this fooling with the date didn’t change the fact that the third Monday in February was still “Washington’s Birthday.” Originally the Uniform Holidays Bill proposed moving the observance of Washington’s Birthday and renaming the holiday “President’s Day” — supposedly to honor both Washington and Lincoln, since both their birthdays were in February. However, the name change got dropped out of the bill and the official designation of the federal holiday observed on the third Monday of February is, and always has been, Washington’s Birthday. To add more confusion, some people believe the day is understood to be a celebration of the birthdays and lives of all U.S. Presidents.
So no matter who or what you’re celebrating today — happy President’s Day.
— 30 —