Happy Birthday, Mr. President: History of Presidents’ Day

Vestavia Hills High School students relaxed over the long weekend, thanks to Presidents’ Day! Happy Birthday, Mr. President! But how exactly did Presidents’ Day come about? 

As everyone knows, George Washington was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, and he served as the first president of our nation. However, after two terms of office, Washington honorably decided to give up his power as president and uphold democracy. In the years that followed, the people of the United States unofficially celebrated his birthday. Later, that date became Presidents’ Day, a national holiday. But George Washington himself didn’t enjoy celebrating his birthday. In fact, George Washington even did chores on his birthday. 

In the beginning, Presidents’ Day fell on February 22nd (George Washington’s birthday). Instead of “Presidents’ Day,” the holiday started out only celebrating Washington’s birthday. Here’s a fun fact: Washington actually had two birthdays, one on the Julian calendar and one on the Gregorian calendar. February 22nd was first celebrated as a national holiday in 1879. Starting in 1896, a new tradition began where a member of the Senate reads Washington’s Farewell Address in a legislative session around Presidents’ Day. 

As time went on, the holiday that began as a celebration of Washington’s birthday morphed into Presidents’ Day. In most areas of the United States, the holiday honors the presidency and the presidents. However, this shift is unofficial because the United States government never officially changed the holiday’s name into Presidents’ Day. Today, several states still recognize this holiday as George Washington Day. In fact, multiple states choose to celebrate past presidents on separate holidays. In New York, Lincoln and Washington both have their own holidays. The state of Missouri celebrates three different presidents on three different dates. This raises the question: should George Washington get his own holiday? Or should Presidents’ Day be a celebration of all presidents?

But why are we celebrating Presidents’ Day on February 19th instead of the 22nd this year? Why do we now have a three day weekend? Well, we can thank Congress for the long weekend. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which designated some holidays to be celebrated on Mondays. This gave federal employees a three day weekend! As a result, Presidents’ Day became officially celebrated on the third Monday in February every year, and we benefit from a three day weekend. So in the end, thank you, Mr. President!