Presidents
Day!
By:
Tiffany Davis
Flavor
Vapor Media Specialist
In this
time of my life I know that I’ve heard the story of Presidents Day but, for
some reason I just can’t remember. So, for all those who are like me I thought
I would write a brief yet fun blog about President’s Day!!
So,
most of us don’t give Presidents Day much thought. You don’t get off work and it’s
just another day with a fancy name. The story of President’s Day and how it
came to be is somehow part of us all. The following segment is taken directly
from History.com because I am no history buff!!-
“Presidents’ Day is an American
holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February. Originally established in
1885 in recognition of President George Washington, it is still officially
called “Washington’s Birthday” by the federal government. Traditionally celebrated
on February 22—Washington’s actual day of birth—the holiday became popularly
known as Presidents’ Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday
Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s
workers. While several states still have individual holidays honoring the
birthdays of Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other figures, Presidents’ Day is
now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents past and
present.”
More history from History.com
“Presidents’ Day: Origin as Washington’s Birthday
The story of Presidents’ Day date
begins in 1800. Following President George Washington’s death in 1799, his
February 22 birthday became a perennial day of remembrance. At the time,
Washington was venerated as the most important figure in American history, and
events like the 1832 centennial of his birth and the start of construction of
the Washington Monument in 1848 were cause for national celebration. While
Washington’s Birthday was an unofficial observance for most of the 1800s, it
was not until the late 1870s that it became a federal holiday. Senator Steven
Wallace Dorsey of Arkansas was the first to propose the measure, and in 1879
President Rutherford B. Hayes signed it into law. The holiday initially only
applied to the District of Columbia, but in 1885 it was expanded to the whole
country. At the time, Washington’s Birthday joined four other nationally
recognized federal bank holidays—Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Independence
Day and Thanksgiving—and was the first to celebrate the life of an individual
American. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, signed into law in 1983, would be the
second.
Presidents’ Day: The Uniform Monday Holiday Act
The shift from Washington’s Birthday
to Presidents’ Day began in the late 1960s when Congress proposed a measure
known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. Championed by Senator Robert McClory
of Illinois, this law sought to shift the celebration of several federal
holidays from specific dates to a series of predetermined Mondays. The proposed
change was seen by many as a novel way to create more three-day weekends for
the nation’s workers, and it was believed that ensuring holidays always fell on
the same weekday would reduce employee absenteeism. While some argued that
shifting holidays from their original dates would cheapen their meaning, the
bill also had widespread support from both the private sector and labor unions
and was seen as a surefire way to bolster retail sales.
The Uniform Monday Holiday Act also
included a provision to combine the celebration of Washington’s Birthday with
Abraham Lincoln’s, which fell on the proximate date of February 12. Lincoln’s
Birthday had long been a state holiday in places like Illinois, and many
supported joining the two days as a way of giving equal recognition to two of
America’s most famous statesmen.
McClory was among the measure’s major
proponents, and he even floated the idea of renaming the holiday “President’s
Day.” This proved to be a point of contention for lawmakers from George
Washington’s home state of Virginia, and the proposal was eventually dropped.
Nevertheless, the main piece of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed in 1968
and officially took effect in 1971 following an executive order from President
Richard Nixon. Washington’s Birthday was then shifted from the fixed date of
February 22 to the third Monday of February. Columbus Day, Memorial Day and
Veterans Day were also moved from their traditionally designated dates. (As a
result of widespread criticism, in 1980 Veterans’ Day was returned to its
original November 11 date.)
Presidents’ Day: Transformation
While Nixon’s order plainly called
the newly placed holiday Washington’s Birthday, it was not long before the
shift to Presidents’ Day began. The move away from February 22 led many to
believe that the new date was intended to honor both Washington and Abraham
Lincoln, as it now fell between their two birthdays. Marketers soon jumped at
the opportunity to play up the three-day weekend with sales, and “Presidents’
Day” bargains were advertised at stores around the country.
By the mid-1980s Washington’s
Birthday was known to many Americans as Presidents’ Day. This shift had
solidified in the early 2000s, by which time as many as half the 50 states had
changed the holiday’s name to Presidents’ Day on their calendars. Some states
have even chosen to customize the holiday by adding new figures to the
celebration. Arkansas, for instance, celebrates Washington as well as civil
rights activist Daisy Gatson Bates. Alabama, meanwhile, uses Presidents’ Day to
commemorate Washington and Thomas Jefferson (who was born in April).
Washington and Lincoln still remain
the two most recognized leaders, but Presidents’ Day is now popularly seen as a
day to recognize the lives and achievements of all of America’s chief
executives. Some lawmakers have objected to this view, arguing that grouping
George Washington and Abraham Lincoln together with less successful presidents
minimizes their legacies. Congressional measures to restore Washington and
Lincoln’s individual birthdays were proposed during the early 2000s, but all
failed to gain much attention. For its part, the federal government has held
fast to the original incarnation of the holiday as a celebration of the
country’s first president. The third Monday in February is still listed on
official calendars as Washington’s Birthday.
Presidents’ Day: Celebrations and
Traditions
Like Independence Day, Presidents’
Day is traditionally viewed as a time of patriotic celebration and remembrance.
In its original incarnation as Washington’s Birthday, the holiday gained
special meaning during the difficulties of the Great Depression, when portraits
of George Washington often graced the front pages of newspapers and magazines
every February 22. In 1932 the date was used to reinstate the Purple Heart, a
military decoration originally created by George Washington to honor soldiers
killed or wounded while serving in the armed forces. Patriotic groups and the
Boy Scouts of America also held celebrations on the day, and in 1938 some 5,000
people attended mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City in honor of
Washington.
In its modern form, Presidents’ Day
is used by many patriotic and historical groups as a date for staging
celebrations, reenactments and other events. A number of states also require
that their public schools spend the days leading up to Presidents’ Day teaching
students about the accomplishments of the presidents, often with a focus on the
lives of Washington and Lincoln.”
Hopefully, now you can outsmart your kids when they get home
from school Monday! Happy Vaping!!
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