Like George Washington, we cannot tell a lie, so we must share a brutal truth. This is not Presidents Day.
Nor is it a national holiday designed to honor Abraham Lincoln along with Washington.
On the federal calendar, at least, Monday is still Washington’s birthday.
In fact, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 — which moved the observance of Washington’s birthday from Feb. 22 to the third Monday in February — does not name Lincoln at all. Nor does it mention Presidents Day, Presidents' Day or even President's Day
So how did we end up with Presidents Day?
Confusion might be the easiest answer. Though Lincoln’s birthday, Feb. 12, was never a federal holiday, it was celebrated in some jurisdictions. When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, many people surmised — incorrectly — that it was to jointly honor both the Father of His Country and the Great Emancipator.
Adding to the perception is the fact that Lincoln’s birthday is a holiday in some locales and that some jurisdictions do honor both presidents today. Toss in ads screaming “Presidents Day Sale!” and the confusion spreads.
The Monday Holiday Act took effect in 1971. Along with moving Washington’s birthday, it created three-day holidays for Memorial Day, which had been celebrated May 30, and Veterans Day, which had been observed on Nov. 11.
The legislation did not please all. According to a United Press International report from 1968, Rep. James A. Haley (D-Fla.) called it “one of the most ridiculous bills ever brought before Congress.”
In an editorial, the Washington Post harrumphed: “Probably there is something to be said for the addition of a Monday holiday occasionally to the Saturday-Sunday weekend. But why should history be distorted in the process?”[HEAR, HEAR I say!]
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Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
This was certainly a teaching moment lost. The wise thing to do would have been to denote this Monday "President's Day," and appoint a federal commission to designate a different President to honor each year (a couple years in advance, of course), so we could take a few minutes each year to learn about a past president.
Same for MLK day. Should have been designated, "Great Americans' Day," and celebrated the same way.
