On February 19th, 2023, all of America came together to celebrate Presidents’ Day. This day is always set on the third Monday of February when we celebrate our past and future presidents.
Originally, the holiday was conceived while President George Washington was still alive, a holiday made to pay homage to the nation’s first president, George Washington, specifically, his birthday which is on February 22nd. The holiday was quite literally called “Washington’s Birthday.” But over the years, “Washington’s Birthday” developed and now celebrates all 46 of our past and current presidents, with the date changed from every February 22 to the third Monday of February which, as inconsistent as it is, has grown to be an iconic and recognizable date.
This change was proposed by Stephen W. Dorsey, a Republican politician who represented Arkansas in the U.S. Senate, in 1879. President Rutherford B. Hayes then signed it into law. It started as just a federal holiday for Washington D.C. which then became a nationwide holiday in 1885; though in 2024, nine states still don’t celebrate it.
Only in 1971 did the holiday get moved to the third Monday of February thanks to the Uniform Monday Holiday Law, a reschedule for certain holidays to ensure workers get long weekends. It was also changed to this date as it would always be in between George Washington’s birthday and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, which is February 12th. Then the holiday was officially renamed Presidents’ Day.
Thanks to the name becoming so popular, it took over, though the U.S. Government never officially changed its name.
