 Titled
Washington's Birthday, the federal holiday was originally implemented by
the Congress of the United States of America in 1880 for government offices
in the District of Columbia and expanded in 1885 to include all federal
offices. As the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, the
holiday was celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, February 22. On
January 1, 1971 the federal holiday was shifted to the third Monday in
February by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. A draft of the Uniform Holidays
Bill of 1968 would have renamed the holiday to Presidents' Day to honor
the birthdays of both Washington and Lincoln, but this proposal failed
in committee and the bill as voted on and signed into law on June 28, 1968
kept the name Washington's Birthday.
The first attempt to create a Presidents Day
occurred in 1951 when then the "President's Day National Committee" was
formed by Harold Stonebridge Fischer of Compton, California, who became
its National Executive Director for the next two decades. The purpose was
not to honor any particular President, but to honor the office of the Presidency.
It was first thought that March 4, the original inauguration day, should
be deemed Presidents Day. However, the bill recognizing the March 4th date
was stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee (who had authority over national
holidays), who felt that, because of its proximity to Lincoln's and Washington
Birthdays, 3 holidays so close together would be unduly burdensome. During
this time, however, the Governors of a majority of the individual states
issued proclamations declaring March 4 to be Presidents Day in their respective
jurisdictions. Later on, the Washington's Birthday holiday would concurrently
become known as Presidents Day.
By the mid-1980s, with a push from advertisers,
the term "Presidents Day" began its public appearance. Although Lincoln's
birthday, February 12, was never a federal holiday, approximately a dozen
state governments have officially renamed their Washington's Birthday observances
as "Presidents Day", "Washington and Lincoln Day", or other such designations.
However, "Presidents Day" is not always an all-inclusive term.
* In Massachusetts, while
the state officially celebrates "Washington's Birthday," state law also
prescribes that the governor issue an annual Presidents Day proclamation
honoring the presidents that have come from Massachusetts: John Adams,
John Quincy Adams, Calvin Coolidge, and John F. Kennedy. (Coolidge,
the only one born outside of Massachusetts, spent his entire political
career before the vice presidency there. George H. W. Bush, on the other
hand, was born in Massachusetts, but has spent most of his life elsewhere.)
* Alabama uniquely observes
the day as "Washington and Jefferson Day", even though Jefferson's birthday
was in April.
* In New Jersey, Connecticut,
Missouri and Illinois, while Washington's Birthday is a federal holiday,
Abraham Lincoln's birthday is still a state holiday, falling on February
12 regardless of the day of the week.
* In Washington's home
state of Virginia the holiday is legally known as "George Washington Day." |