PRESIDENTS DAY

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Presidents’ Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February.

This holiday was established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, it is still officially called “Washington’s Birthday” by the federal government.

Do you look up to Theodore Roosevelt. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Gerald Ford. Ronald Reagan. George W. Bush. Presidents that stand as pillars of conservative politics, and leaders in every sense of the word, or more liberal presidents like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ulysses Grant, Lyndon Johnson, or JFK?

Presidents' Day honors all the American presidents, but most significantly George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. George Washington was either born on February 22, 1732 or on February 11th. Back in the 1790s, Americans were split - some celebrated his birthday on February 11th and some on February 22nd.

When Abraham Lincoln became president and helped reshape our country, it was believed he should also have a special day of recognition. Tricky thing was that Lincoln’s birthday fell on February 12th. Prior to 1968, having two presidential birthdays so close together didn't seem to bother anyone. February 22nd was observed as a federal public holiday to honor the birthday of George Washington and February 12th was observed as a public holiday to honor Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

In 1968, things changed when the 90th Congress was determined to create a uniform system of federal Monday holidays. They voted to shift three existing holidays (including Washington's Birthday) to Mondays. The law took effect in 1971, and as a result, Washington's Birthday holiday was changed to the third Monday in February. But not all Americans were happy with the new law. There was some concern that Washington's identity would be lost since the third Monday in February would never fall on his actual birthday. There was also an attempt to rename the public holiday "Presidents' Day", but the idea didn't go anywhere since some believed not all presidents deserved a special recognition.

Even though Congress had created a uniform federal holiday law, there was not a uniform holiday title agreement among the individual states. Some states, like California, Idaho, Tennessee and Texas chose not to retain the federal holiday title and renamed their state holiday "President's Day." From that point forward, the term “Presidents' Day” became a marketing phenomenon, as advertisers sought to capitalize on the opportunity for three-day or week-long sales.

In 1999, bills were introduced in both the U.S. House (HR-1363) and Senate (S-978) to specify that the legal public holiday once referred to as Washington's Birthday be "officially" called by that name once again. Both bills died in committees.

Today, President’s Day is well accepted and celebrated. Some communities still observe the original holidays of Washington and Lincoln, and many parks actually stage reenactments and pageants in their honor. The National Park Service also features a number of historic sites and memorials to honor the lives of these two presidents, as well as other important leaders.

Some Presidents served too long in office, others not long enough.
Which one of the US Presidents do you look up to?
01 Washington, George
02 Adams, John
03 Jefferson, Thomas
04 Madison, James
05 Monroe, James
06 Adams, John Quincy
07 Jackson, Andrew
08 Van Buren, Martin
09 Harrison, William Henry
10 Tyler, John
11 Polk, James Knox
12 Taylor, Zachary
13 Fillmore, Millard
14 Pierce, Franklin
15 Buchanan, James
16 Lincoln, Abraham
17 Johnson, Andrew
18 Grant, Ulysses S.
19 Hayes, Rutherford Birchard
20 Garfield, James Abram
21 Arthur, Chester Alan
22 Cleveland, Grover
23 Harrison, Benjamin
24 Cleveland, Grover
25 McKinley, William
26 Roosevelt, Theodore
27 Taft, William Howard
28 Wilson, Woodrow
29 Harding, Warren Gamaliel
30 Coolidge, Calvin
31 Hoover, Herbert Clark
32 Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
33 Truman, Harry
34 Eisenhower, Dwight David
35 Kennedy, John Fitzgerald
36 Johnson, Lyndon Baines
37 Nixon, Richard Milhous
38 Ford, Gerald Rudolph
39 Carter, James Earl Jr.
40 Reagan, Ronald Wilson
41 Bush, George Herbert Walker
42 Clinton, William Jefferson
43 Bush, George Walker
44 Obama, Barack Hussein

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