Why Do We Celebrate Presidents Day?

A federal holiday to honor George Washington was established by Congress in 1880 on the date of his birth. Since that time, this day to honor one president has morphed into a day called Presidents Day to honor Washington, Lincoln and all presidents.

The original act of Congress, in 1880, proclaimed a federal holiday for government offices in the District of Columbia to honor George Washington on February 22. In 1885, this was amended to include all federal offices, so that is the year the whole country started observing Washington's Birthday.

The date of this observance was changed in the Uniform Holidays Bill, passed in 1968, and implemented in 1971. From then on, Washington's Birthday has been celebrated on the third Monday in February.

Before the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed in 1968, a draft was submitted to change the day from a day to honor George Washington to a day called Presidents Day to honor Washington and Abraham Lincoln. But, when the final version was passed, it only changed the date of the observance of Washington's Birthday from February 22nd to the third Monday in February.

The holiday has not been officially designated as anything other than Washington's Birthday, a day to honor the father of our country; however, in many states it is celebrated as Presidents Day.

State Specific Celebrations of Presidents Day

Even though the holiday is still officially Washington's Birthday, all the states celebrate Presidents Day, but in different ways.

• Some states include other presidents who were born or lived in their state
• Some just celebrate it as George Washington Day
• Many states observe Lincoln's birthday as a state holiday on his birthday, in addition to the national holiday for Washington
• Alabama celebrates Washington and Jefferson Day
• Some states celebrate Washington and Lincoln, and any president from that particular state

No matter where you live and whether you call the holiday Presidents Day or Washington's Birthday, the day is a day to remember the men who lead, and helped shape, our country.  

George Washington

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 and died on December 14, 1799. He was the commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783. He presided over the convention which wrote the U.S.Constitution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and served as the first President of the United States from 1789-1797. At his funeral in 1799, Henry Lee claimed him to be "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." 

Holidays

The Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968 was designed to have three-day weekends on Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. When a holiday falls on Saturday, it is observed on the Friday before, and when it falls on a Sunday, it is celebrated the following day.

The eleven federal holidays mentioned in the Uniform Holidays Bill are:

• New Year’s Day, January 1
• Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., the third Monday in January
• Inauguration Day, January 20 in the year after a presidential election
• Washington’s Birthday, the third Monday in February
• Memorial Day, the last Monday in May
• Independence Day, July 4
• Labor Day, the first Monday in September
• Columbus Day, the second Monday in October
• Veterans Day, November 11
• Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday in November
• Christmas Day, December 25

Presidents Day is celebrated throughout the United States on the third Monday in February, the same day as the federal holiday of Washington's Birthday. It honors the founding fathers of the U.S.