The Origin of the Presidents Day Holiday

Few young folks today recognize that "Presidents Day" was actually a holiday created to specially recognize George Washington, on his birthday. The holiday was originally created in 1885 by a bill signed by President Chester Arthur, which declared that February 22nd, Washington's Birthday, would be a federal holiday.

However, like most things to do with Washington, things were not so simple. Washington's Birthday was actually on February 11th, but that was according to the Julian calendar. However, Britain eventually shifted to the Gregorian calendar, which moved everything ahead 11 days. Eventually, Abraham Lincoln was elected president and proved to be a president as great and served as much of a catalyst to the nation as Washington did. His birthday was February 12th, and many states started to observe that date as a holiday.

The Birth of Presidents Day

Many years later, in 1968, members of Congress decided that it would be easier to celebrate the holidays if they were on Monday so that workers would have a three day weekend instead of having a broken week in the middle of the week. This bill moved all holidays to Monday, so President's Day is on the third Monday in February. This national holiday is often called "President's Day," in honor of both Washington and Lincoln, but the official name remains "Washington's Birthday."

In order to make the single national holiday more inclusive of both Presidents, Congress considered a bill to rename it as President's Day. Congress rejected the bill. Some in Congress would like to make the national holiday more inclusive of not only Lincoln, but all Presidents who served our country. But when it comes down to it, the original purpose of the holiday was to recognize the first significant and great President who had one of the largest roles in founding this nation and creating the Constitution that we hold so dear. Washington deserves to be recognized as the greatest leader the United States have ever had.

What Does President's Day Mean to Americans?

If you ask most Americans about President's Day, they'll likely tell you that it's one of the best shopping days of the year. Retailers offer some of the steepest discounts of the year as they switch from winter stock to spring stock. Stores hope to clear out floor space for the new inventory, and getting rid of the remaining winter goods are their highest priority. Sometimes the priority is so high that sales are very surprising.

Unfortunately, this practice has caused the national holiday, which was created to recognize President Washington and President Lincoln, to become a highly commercialized holiday, much like Christmas has become. It seems unfortunate that most Americans do not recognize the importance of the day, the history behind it, and the history behind the men for which it was created.

How to Recognize President's Day

That's not to say that you shouldn't enjoy a great day of rock-bottom bargains at your local store. But primarily, parents should spend the day with their kids, teaching them about Washington's life and the history of the birth of our nation. Parents should enjoy activities with their children that reflect on what it means to be a U.S. President, and what sort of struggles and trials George Washington faced during his time as a child, his time on the battlefields of our young nation, and his time as a leader of this great nation.

Please visit ListofPresidents.net for a great list of resources about United States Presidents!

Ryan Dube has worked in the IT industry for over 12 years and is an Electrical Engineer by training. Ryan is a freelance journalist and author and has been published in several publications both online and offline over the past five years. View his writer's site at www.invisible-inc-writers.com.