< PREVIOUS ] [ 2001 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >
As this week progresses and the next one approaches, we
will hear more and more about a non-existent holiday:
Presidents Day,
as in Traffic was
bumper-to-bumper gridlock in the east-bound lanes of
Interstate 70 from No Name Exit to Wadsworth Boulevard on
Monday afternoon and into the evening as thousands of
skiers attempted to return to the metropolitan area after
the three-day Presidents Day weekend.
In Colorado, there isn't a Presidents Day. Nor is there any such federal holiday.
Recall from your civics classes that we have several levels of government, among them state and federal.
The federal government can celebrate a holiday by closing federal offices. But a federal proclamation does not close state offices for a holiday -- that has to be done by the state government.
So the upcoming federal holiday is officially George Washington's Birthday, in honor of the first president of the United States, and perhaps even more importantly, the first revolutionary leader in history who voluntarily relinquished power when his term expired. For that alone, Washington deserves a day on every calendar in the world.
Washington was actually born on Feb. 11, 1731, but that was under the old Julian calendar, which was out of synch with the seasons and getting worse with each passing century. Another peculiarity was that it started the new year on March 25.
The British Empire adopted the modern Gregorian calendar in 1752, and thereafter Washington celebrated his birthday on the day it would have been if the Gregorian calendar had been in effect then: Feb. 22, 1732.
That became a federal holiday in 1885. It remained on Feb. 22 until 1971, when it was changed to the third Monday in February.
But it is a myth that President Richard M. Nixon renamed the holiday then; there is no record of any such action or statement at the Nixon Presidential Library or in the Federal Register.
That's the word from Jason Bezis, a law student at the University of California at Berkeley who is also a serious student of Washington's Birthday -- which is still the official federal name for the holiday on the third Monday in February.
In Colorado, state law provides that the third Monday
in February, commonly called Washington-Lincoln day
is
a legal holiday as regards the presenting for payment or
acceptance and the protesting and giving notice of the
dishonor of bills of exchange, drafts, bank checks,
promissory notes, or other negotiable instruments and also
for the holding of courts.
So it's Washington-Lincoln Day here, although Bezis has
found that 13 states do have an official Presidents Day.
In 2000, Utah was the first state to repeal Presidents Day
and replace it with Washington and Lincoln Day.
So, if you hear anyone in Colorado or Utah, especially a
journalist who is supposed to check facts, referring to
the Presidents Day weekend,
you know you're
listening to an ignoramus. Washington's Birthday, or
Washington-Lincoln Day -- but not Presidents Day.
When I was in grade school, we never got off on either Washington's or Lincoln's birthday. But I still liked those special February days, since it was a welcome break from routine to dress up in revolutionary wigs made from mops and in stovepipe hats made from black construction paper, and tedious regular lessons were replaced by interesting presentations about Valley Forge and Gettysburg.
Combine that common memory with the fact that many
modern Americans do seem to want a Presidents Day,
and a possibility appears.
There are no federal holidays in March or April, so declare a Presidents Day then, with a different president selected for study (and for commercial advertising purposes) each year. The selected president would be chosen by a drawing, and announced a couple of years in advance, for the benefit of calendar makers and schoolchildren.
One year, they could learn about the role of mendacity in American life as they studied Richard Nixon and speculated as to which expletives were deleted. Another year, they could learn about whether the United States is trustworthy as they examined Andrew Jackson and the Cherokee.
They might learn how the media give presidents an unfair image as they pondered Gerald Ford, who was portrayed as a klutz but who was in fact the best athlete ever to reside in the White House.
The careers of Ulysses S. Grant and Jimmy Carter might explain how good men don't necessarily make good presidents, and Harry S Truman could show that a machine politician can rise above the unsavory milieu that gave him his start in public life. Edith Wilson, Florence Harding and Abigail Adams could demonstrate the influence of strong women on the presidency.
A Presidents Day is actually a pretty good idea, especially if it wasn't a school holiday. But we don't have one now, no matter what you hear -- next Monday is either Washington's Birthday or Washington-Lincoln Day in Colorado.
< PREVIOUS ] [ 2001 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >