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A Look At The History Behind Presidents Day

On Monday, Santa Clarita celebrates Presidents Day, a holiday originally only dedicated to the first president of the United States of America.


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Presidents Day was first created in order to celebrate President George Washington’s birthday.

In fact, the federal holiday is still called “Washington’s Birthday,” which was actually on February 22, 1732.

This became a legal holiday on January 31, 1879, “when Congress added February 22 to the list of holidays to be observed by federal employees in the District of.  Columbia,” according to the National Archives webpage.

Prior to making this a federal holiday congress had made attempts to revive his memory by reading his farewell speech on the 130th anniversary of Washington’s birth, and funding the Washington Monument to completion in 1848.

It was the popularity of Abraham Lincoln, and the fact the his birthday is only 10 days before on Feb. 12, that made people reconsider how we celebrated our most iconic presidents, and others after them.

“In 1968, Congress debated whether to combine the two presidents’ birthdays into one holiday but decided against it.” However, “the legislative body passed the Monday Holidays Act that year, which said existing federal holidays would now be observed on Mondays to give government workers a long weekend,” according to a CNN report.

“The bill went into effect in 1971 and deemed that ‘Washington’s Birthday’ would be moved from February 22 to the third Monday in February.”

Although the term President’s Day is what is most commonly heard on commercials and savings this weekend, it is still dedicated to America’s first president. Washington is still strongly admired to this very day for all the precedent set during his presidency, most notably, walking away from the position of power after only two terms.

This holiday can also be a time to reflect on other presidents throughout history and the way each of them have shaped the in country which we live.

CNN reports contributed to this story.

 

 

 

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A Look At The History Behind Presidents Day

One comment

  1. This headline is misleading. If you read the article, you will find out that it is Washington’s Birthday, not “Presidents Day.” Just because advertisers call it Presidents’ Day and so does the press, doesn’t change the fact that the federal holiday is Washington’s Birthday. Why would we celebrate Lincoln’s birthday and then a few days later celebrate a birthday for all the presidents? We don’t; it’s Washington’s Birthday.

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.