Presidents' Day

A few folks can still remember when the federal holidays included celebrating Abraham Lincoln's birthday on February 12th and George Washington's birthday on February 22nd. However, this was changed in 1968 with the passage of the Uniform Holidays Bill, which created more three-day weekends for federal employees and others that get off work on federal holidays. Beginning then, Presidents' Day would be observed on the third Monday in February to replace the other two formally observed days.

The confusion came over exactly what this day stood for. Some said it would celebrate George Washington's birthday, since his fell closer to the third Monday. Ironically, however, by putting the holiday on the third Monday, congress ensured that it would never fall on Washington's actual birthday of February 22. The latest date that the third Monday in February can be is February 21.

Most people paying attention when the bill was passed considered it to combine celebrations for both Washington and Lincoln since those two presidents' birthdays had formally been observed in February, and elementary schools often do this. However, President Nixon is usually cited as the one to present the idea that Presidents' Day should celebrate all the presidents. There have been some efforts in congress to clarify just what Presidents' Day celebrates, but none of them have made it through the legislative process.

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