Washington's Birthday

Never mind what that mattress sale ad says - there is no such thing as President's Day. It is a myth, just as untrue as George Washington chopping down the cherry tree, throwing a silver dollar across the Potomac, and wearing teeth made of wood. Yes, there is a federal holiday on February 16th this year. But it's official name is "Washington's Birthday." We're supposed to celebrate the life and legacy of the Father of Our Country, not the rest of those Mount Rushmore guys. They can get their own holiday.

Admittedly, every sale as in the United States will talk about special Presidents' Day prices. Other media routinely refer to this as Presidents' Day. It is Presidents' Day in the popular mind. It just isn't Presidents' Day in US law. Let's look at the record: Washington’s Birthday has been a federal holiday since 1885. For more than 80 years it was celebrated on Washington’s actual birthday, Feb. 22. But by the middle of the 20th century some US lawmakers began to agitate for a more generalized recognition of presidential achievement. In 1968, this desire collided with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, legislation that aimed to shuffle certain US holidays around to create three-day weekends for increased leisure and sellathon purposes. Early drafts of this law did indeed change Washington’s Birthday to Presidents’ Day. But the bill stalled in committee. The list of 2012 holidays for federal workers says nothing about "Presidents' Day". It lists “Washington’s Birthday,” with an explanation. “Though other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, it is our policy to always refer to holidays by the names designated in the law.”