Monday marks Presidents Day, a day observed on the third Monday of February each year, honoring the lives and legacies of those who have held our nation’s highest office.
In the early 19th century, the federal holiday was initially intended to celebrate the Feb. 22 birthday of U.S. President George Washington, the first president of the United States and commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The push for the day of remembrance came subsequent to his death in 1799.
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While myriads celebrated his birthday during most of the 1800s, it wouldn’t become an official observance until the late 1870s, after Arkansas Senator Steven Wallace Dorsey proposed adding it to the four existing federal holidays. On Jan. 31, 1879, President Rutherford B. Hayes signed it into law, making it the first federal holiday to celebrate an individual birth date. It was initially only applied to federal workers in Washington, D.C. but would be extended to workers across the country in 1885.
Over time, however, the holiday has evolved to celebrate all presidents—past and present—and reflect on how their contributions have shaped the country.
But why is it celebrated on a Monday? This is thanks to the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill, which moved several federal holidays to Mondays when the United States Congress passed it in 1968 in an effort to give American workers several three-day weekends throughout the year. As mentioned previously, it is celebrated on the third Monday of February.
George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr. are the only individuals whose birthdays are officially recognized with a national federal holiday observance in their honor. Despite being widely recognized as Presidents’ Day, the federal government still refers to it as Washington’s Birthday.
Although Presidents Day is often viewed as a much-needed respite from work or school, it’s also a significant moment in history worthy of reflection.
