Monday, February 15, 2010

Happy Washington's Birthday!

So it's Presidents Day!!!

Mixed feelings here.

If I read history correctly, Presidents Day was originally called Washington's Birthday, and was celebrated on February 22. Go figure--Washington was born on the 22nd. In 1971, the holiday was shifted by Congress to the third Monday in February by the Uniform Monday Holiday act.

So here we are today celebrating Presidents Day.

From Wikipedia:
" The first attempt to create a Presidents Day occurred in 1951 when 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 (which had authority over national holidays). That committee felt that, because of its proximity to Lincoln's and Washington Birthdays, three 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 become known as Presidents Day. "

So if we are honoring the office of the Presidency, why can't we honor the Legislative and Judicial offices as well? I mean, the original "Presidents Day" was to honor George Washington, not the office as a whole. Just a thought.

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