How and when did George’s and Abraham’s birthdays morph into President’s Day? Presidents' Day is not the official name of the holiday. While the name “Presidents' Day” was proposed for the Monday holiday in 1951, the U.S. government with its typical efficiency never officially changed the name. The change evolved during the 1980s, thanks to advertising campaigns for holiday sales which featured actors dressed as Washington and Lincoln selling cars and mattresses and kitchenware as well as in advertisements for discounts on appliances, blue tooth noise canceling headphones and Martha Stewart Towel Collections using the names of our 1st and 16th presidents. "Well gee whiz, if that mattress was good enough for George Washington, it must be good enough for me." After all, think of all the places he slept. Gradually, the concept of "Presidents' Day" insinuated insinuated itself into the public consciousness and became popularized and now, largely accepted.
Once upon a time, February contained two holidays - Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday on February 12 (1809), and George Washington’s Birthday on February 22, 1732. Washington’s Birthday was a national holiday per an 1879 act of Congress. Lincoln’s birthday was never a national holiday but was celebrated as a state holiday in many states........although not many in the South. There have been several attempts in Congress to get Lincoln his own national holiday, but none have succeeded. Now, more states celebrate Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) than Lincoln’s birthday. In fact, as of 2023, 18 states have days off for state employees for Black Friday.
In 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Law shifted the celebration of several federal holidays from specific dates to a series of predetermined Mondays. Now, thanks mostly to retail sales, Presidents' Day is popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents, past and present. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act also included a provision to combine the celebration of Washington’s birthday with that of Abraham Lincoln which fell on February 12. Lincoln’s Birthday had long been a state holiday in places like Illinois.
So, almost everyone now refers to the holiday as “Presidents’ Day” and consider it a day honoring all American presidents. However, neither the Uniform Holidays Act nor any subsequent law changed the name of the holiday from Washington’s Birthday to Presidents Day. This holiday is designated as “Washington’s Birthday” in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code.
George Washington’s Birthday was first declared a federal holiday in 1879 by an Act of Congress. While it may seem like the entire nation observes “Presidents’ Day,” Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Florida, and New York specifically recognize the third Monday in February as “Washington’s Birthday” or “George Washington Day." Some states, such as Virginia, his home state, celebrate Washington’s birthday the entire month of February. Not to be outdone, the city of Laredo, Texas, also has an annual Washington Birthday Celebration that began in 1898. It also lasts the entire month although the schools are not closed, we presume.
Washington’s Birthday officially honors the life and work of the first president of the United States. The celebration of his birthday began during the last year of his presidency in 1796. February 22 became a time to honor Washington, though informally, until 1880, a year after it was made the first federal holiday to honor a person by the Forty-fifth Congress.
Since it is now referred to as “President’s Day” we honor all of our presidents, although we have yet to see Franklin Pierce selling cars, we present some vitally important information to share with your friends as we celebrate some of our presidents.
· Millard Fillmore #13 (1850-1853) refused an honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law from Oxford, saying, "No man should accept a degree that he cannot read.” Fillmore always carried a dictionary in his pocket. Fillmore was the last Whig president. The party’s attempts to re-brand itself as The Toupée Party failed and they ultimately would join the newly formed Republican Party.
· James Garfield #20 (1881) was ambidextrous and multilingual, and he was able to write in Greek with one hand and Latin in the other at the same time.
· Presidents John Adams #2 (1797-1801 and Thomas Jefferson #3 (1801-1808) died hours apart from each other — on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826
· Jefferson, #3 invented the swivel chair to make work more comfortable.
· Adams #2 (1797-1801) and wife, Abigail, named their dog, “Satan”.
· George Washington’s #1 (1789-1797) dentures were not made of wood, but rather of ivory, gold, and human and animal teeth, among other materials.
· John Quincy Adams #6 (1825-1829) only agreed to speak with Anne Royal, the first woman to interview a president, after she commandeered his clothes during one of his daily baths in the Potomac River.
· James Polk (#11) was the first president to retire after one term and not seek re-election. Polk had promised not to run for a second term and rightfully claimed to have achieved his major policy goals in four years.
· Zachary Taylor #12 (1849-1850) is the only president whose remains were exhumed. A medical examiner tested for poisoning in 1991. After reviewing the results, the examiner determined that he had not been poisoned. The culprit was cholera morbus, a bacterial infection of the small intestine. Also, “Old Rough and Ready “never voted in an election prior to being on the ballot himself.
· Andrew Jackson #7 (1829-1837): Once killed a man in a duel. The deceased was Charles Dickinson who had insulted Jackson's wife, Rachel. Dickinson was a crack shot and wounded Jackson. The future president then fired but his pistol jammed. In a major breach of the dueling code, the "code duello", Jackson re-cocked his pistol and killed Dickinson.
· Ulysses S. Grant #18 (1869-1877) was born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but changed his name because he did not like his monogram, HUG. Grant was invited to join Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre on the fateful evening of April 14, 1865, but was forced to decline because he and wife, Julia, made plans to visit their children in New Jersey. In 1872, as President, Grant was pulled over and fined $20 for exceeding the Washington speed limit ... on a horse.
· James Madison, #4 (1809-1817) was the shortest president at 5’4” and weighed barely over 100 pounds. Abraham Lincoln at 6'4" was the tallest.
· Grover Cleveland #22 & #24 (1885 – 1889 and 1893-1897) personally answered the White House phone.
· Franklin D. Roosevelt #32 (1933-1945) was very superstitious and suffered from triskaidekaphobia (aka the fear of the number 13), so much so that he would refuse to travel on the 13th day of any month.
· Benjamin Harrison #23 (1889-1893): Was the first president to hire a female White House staffer.
· Rutherford B. Hayes #19 (1877-1881) was the first to host an Easter egg roll.
NiRichard Nixon's #37 (1969-1974) favorite snack was cottage cheese with ketchup.
· Herbert Hoover # 31 (1929-1933) and his wife, Lou, lived in China before he was president. The couple spoke Mandarin together in the White House when they didn’t want to be overheard by staff or visitors. Hoover was the first president to be born west of the Mississippi River…..Iowa.
· Gerald Ford # 38 (1974-1977) Gerald Ford was the first president to host a prom. It was for his daughter Susan's school.
· Eight presidents were born before the United States was a country. The first born in the new republic was Martin Van Buren #8 (1837-1841). Van Buren was born in 1782 in Kinderhook, New York.
· Our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, (1861-1865) was the first to be born outside of the 13 original colonies. Lincoln was born in Kentucky. He also shares a birthday with the naturalist, Charles Darwin who was also born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England.
· James Buchanan #15 (1857-1761), was the only president who never married.
· John Tyler #10 (1841-1845) was the first vice president to become president after a president’s death, succeeding William Henry Harrison as president in April 1841. He is also the president who had the most children with 15 (2 marriages).
· The first president ever born in a hospital was President Jimmy Carter #39 (in 1924).
· Calvin Coolidge # 30 (1921-1929) was the only president to be born on July 4. Known as a man of few words and nicknamed “Silent Cal”, Coolidge, replied, “You lose,” to a visitor who bet she could get at least three words out of him.
· Ronald Reagan #40 (1981-1989) starred in the movie, Bedtime for Bonzo in 1951.
· Harry S. Truman #33 (1945-1953) had a middle initial but no middle name.
· And lastly, a question for you. Which state has produced the most presidents?
· Of course, you knew it is Ohio with eight presidents: William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft and Warren G. Harding
Enjoy your Washington’s Birthday.
Sources:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/49694/45-odd-facts-about-us-presidents
https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2024/02/top-10-tidbits-you-didnt-know-about-us-presidents
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/facts/the-truth-about-presidents-day#:~:text=However%2C%20Presidents'%20Day%20is%20not,became%20popularized%20and%20largely%20accepted
