Presidents’ Day? No Such Thing
Let’s start at the beginning. The first federal holiday honoring an individual–the father of the country and first U.S. president, George Washington–was enacted by Congress in 1879. It gave federal employees in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., the day off on Washington’s birthday, February 22. In 1885, the holiday was extended to all federal employees, including postal employees. Businesses highly dependent on the mail followed suit, closing on February 22 as well.
George Washington (Oil painting on canvas (1796) by Gilbert Stuart; The Granger Collection))
Abraham Lincoln (Portrait of Abraham Lincoln (1908), oil on canvas by Douglas Volk (Granger Collection))
A Buffalo, New York, druggist named Julius Francis made it his life’s mission to honor Abraham Lincoln, the martyred 16th president who had led the nation through the Civil War (1861-1865). Francis repeatedly petitioned Congress to establish a national holiday on Lincoln’s birthday–February 12. He also organized the first known observance of the day, which took place in Buffalo in 1874. Congress never established Lincoln’s birthday as a national holiday. However, several northern states, including Lincoln’s home state of Illinois, did enact legislation giving school children a holiday on February 12. The observance was usually reinforced by special lessons on Lincoln’s achievements and place in history.
Celebrations surrounding February 12 and February 22 remained unchanged until 1971. About this time, Congress moved around some federal holidays, including Washington’s Birthday, to create three-day weekends. Instead of celebrating the holiday on Washington’s actual birthday, the holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February. At the same time, Illinois’ congressional delegation proposed honoring Lincoln by calling the holiday “presidents’ day.” However, representatives from Virginia blocked the move “to protect the prerogatives of ‘The Father of Our Country’.” The passage of 106 years had failed to soften the attitude of some toward “the great emancipator.”
Led by Illinois, some states did adopt the term “Presidents’ Day” for the third Monday in February. Although people of certain age seem to recall that President Richard Nixon issued a proclamation turning Washington’s Birthday into a holiday honoring all presidents–including himself–this never happened. His proclamation clearly referred only to Washington.
So, the third Monday of February is, officially, Washington’s Birthday.
