President's Day Trivia

What did you do on President's Day?

I spent some time with my wife and caught a couple of movies: Juno and There Will Be Blood. Both were excellent and I recommend them highly.

Although I didn't blog on this, my normal day off, I did think about President's Day and what it was meant to celebrate. Here is the official origin of President's Day courtesy of Wikipedia. Who knew?

As the official title of the federal holiday, Washington's Birthday was originally implemented by the federal government of the United States in 1880 in the District of Columbia (20 Stat. 277) and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices (23 Stat. 516). 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 both Washington and Lincoln, but this proposal failed in committee and the bill as voted on and signed into law on June 28, 1968 simply moved Washington's Birthday.

In the late 1980s, with a push from advertisers, the term Presidents Day began its public appearance. The theme has expanded the focus of the holiday to honor another President born in February, Abraham Lincoln, and often other Presidents of the United States. 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.

It is also interesting to note that "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 Connecticut, while Presidents Day 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."

Be Prepared To Vomit

Does everyone have their barf bags or waste paper baskets handy? Or perhaps you'd like to take a copy of this to the bathroom and prepare yourself.

Dear Mr. President,

As you know, it is with a profound sense of gratitude but a heavy heart that I have decided to take a respite from public service.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve at the White House. My time here and every day of my nearly 23 years of of public service have ben both a blessing and a privilege.

In 1937, the playwright Maxwell Anderson wrote of President George Washington: There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, till all men walk on higher ground in their lifetime.

Mr. President, you are such a man. And so, it has been an honor to serve by your side in this extraordinary moment in our Nation's history.

May God bless you and all those who serve and may He continue to bless out great Nation.

Regards,
Fran Townsend

You may now heave. Did she just compare Bush to George Washington? What the fuck?! The only people walking on higher ground during Bush's administration are the flood victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Lincoln's Birthday

I was thinking about this a couple of weeks ago and didn't bother to write it down. It was a fleeting thought during a subway ride and a two block walk to work when I thought about Presidents' Day.

Ah, Presidents' Day, that combination of Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays into an all encompassing day whose only significance to most people nowadays means another holiday sale.

With pretty much any poll regarding past presidents and their contributions or their greatness, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are usually at the top of the list. Washington involved with the birth of our nation, Lincoln at the helm for our rebirth during the Civil War.

Washington's birthday was officially a holiday in 1880 in DC, and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices. Amazingly, Lincoln's birthday was never a federal holiday, although there are some states that claim it as a legal holiday.

But now, the idea of "Presidents' Day", a name that further obscures the original reason for this holiday in the first place, isn't associated with the celebration of an American patriot's birthday as much as it is another excuse for shopping sprees. One hears Presidents' Day and Memorial Day and the inevitable word "sale" usually follows.

Gabe Pressmen writes of this day: "The reverence for history, the patriotism embodied in past observances of the birthdays of these two statesmen has been lost. Congress took it away from us, back in 1968, with the Uniform Holidays Bill. Only Congress can restore these holidays to the honored place in our lives they deserve. "

Abraham Lincoln: "...As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy"
Letter, August 1858

Happy Birthday, President Lincoln.