Presidents’ Day Holiday Prompts Local Closures

This homogenized holiday, which apparently honors all our past presidents including the rotten ones, somehow replaced the more meaningful “Washington’s Birthday” holiday due to an act of Congress back in the day. Weirdly, the holiday can only occur on February 15 through 21, never on the date of Washington’s birthday, the 22. Senator Steven Wallace Dorsey of Arkansas was the first to propose the measure, and in 1879 President Rutherford B. Hayes signed it into law. The measure sought to move several Federal holidays from specific calendar dates to predetermined Mondays. The Federal Reserve is closed for the day, but there are a few banks that will stay open including TD Bank – an East Coast bank known for being open 7 days a week and on six out of four federal holidays.

One thing we have noticed as the years have passed is that little is done to observe what it is that we ostensibly are celebrating, namely, the births of our two greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and George Washington (February 22).

In a recent official proclamation, President Bill Clinton referred to “Presidents’ Day” (note the all-inclusive plural possessive apostrophe).

Presidents’ Day or George Washington’s Birthday? If so, will you be shopping the Presidents Day sales, heading out to dinner and a movie, or taking a much-needed nap?

The act also included a clause that combined Washington’s birthday with Abraham Lincoln’s (Feb. 12). Although that effort quietly failed, it’s long past time for IL politicians to embrace this state as the Land of Lincoln for all citizens of all political persuasions. “Today we salute the leadership and achievements of all those who have held America’s highest elected office, and we celebrate with special pride the rich legacies of Presidents Washington and Lincoln”. With Presidents’ Day upon us and the many birthdays of key former presidents in the month of February, it is the time to pause a moment to recall the background of this patriotic day. In reality, the third Monday in February has been since its inception “George Washington’s Birthday”.

IL and some other Northern states thought this was a great idea.