When I was a kid there was no “Presidents’ Day.” We celebrated two presidential birthdays in February: Lincoln’s birthday on the 12th and Washington’s on the 22nd. Why pass up an opportunity for two days off of school and even more big savings on appliances and mattresses, which always seem to go on sale around this time?
In fairness, many of the big department stores had month-long or at least two-week long sales that combined both presidents in the savings extravaganzas. In fact, I think the reason we now call it Presidents’ Day is partly because that’s how the marketplace started treating the two birthdays. Click on any image for a larger version.
But officially, there are still two distinct holidays, Washington’s birthday (which is now designated as the third Monday in February), and Lincoln’s, which several states still celebrate as a separate event. Sadly for most school children and mattress salesmen, most Americans now get only one day off to mark the occasions.
There can be only so many national holidays, despite so many great candidates for remembrance. It was just a happy coincidence that Lincoln and Washington were both born in February. Here’s a 1919 poster for the Red Cross, followed by a Currier and Ives print of Lincoln when he was just a candidate for President.
Washington was the first person whose birthday became a national holiday, in 1880. For a long time it was celebrated on his actual birthday, February 22nd. But in 1971 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved almost all national holidays to the closest Monday.
In the original draft of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthday were to be combined into “Presidents’ Day,” but that language was taken out of the final bill and so officially it’s still only Washington’s birthday that we celebrate on President’s Day.
This is also why there is much confusion as to the spelling of Presidents’ Day. When referring to multiple presidents, it’s “Presidents Day” or “Presidents’ Day” (which is the spelling preferred by the Chicago Manual of Style).
And though it is a misspelling when referring to multiple presidents, President’s Day could be correct as a substitute for Washington’s Birthday. Confusing enough?
Personally, I always thought Lincoln was the more deserving of the two for a holiday. After all, Washington has a state and the Capitol named after him. Shouldn’t that be enough? Here is a picture taken on Lincoln’s birthday in 1924 at the Lincoln Memorial.
Regardless of which man you choose to remember this Monday, I hope you have a nice Presidents’ Day. Or President’s Day, depending.
This article was last modified on May 17, 2023
This article was first published on February 12, 2010
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