George Washington’s birthday is a U.S. federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Over time, we celebrated the birthdays of both President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln. This is how the holiday became known as Presidents Day.
The story of the President’s Day date begins in 1800. Following the death of George Washington in 1799, his birthday became a day of remembrance. At the time, Washington was venerated as the most important figure in American History. It wasn’t until the late 1870s that it became a federal holiday.
The transition from Washington’s Birthday to Presidents Day began in the late 1960s when Congress proposed a measure known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act also combined the celebration of Washington’s birthday with Abraham Lincoln’s.
While Nixon called the holiday Washington’s Birthday, it was soon that the shift to Presidents Day began. By the mid-1980s, Washington’s Birthday was known to many Americans as Presidents Day. This shift happened during the 2000s when as many as half the 50 states had changed the holiday’s name to Presidents Day.
Washington and Lincoln are still the two most recognized leaders, but Presidents Day is now seen as a day to acknowledge the achievements of all America’s chief executives. Like Independence Day, Presidents Day is seen as a time of patriotic celebration. Many patriotic and historical groups use Presidents Day for celebrations and other events. Many states also require that their public schools teach students about the accomplishments of the president leading up to Presidents Day.
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