03/28/2024
Spread the love

 

by Danna Martinez

Presidents’ Day was commemorated in honor of Presidents George Washington’s birthdays on February 22, 1732, and Abraham Lincoln on February 12, 1809. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac website, what is known as “Presidents’ Day” in widespread usage is federally called “Washington’s Birthday.”

By the 19th century, this holiday was celebrated as Washington’s birthday. It wasn’t until the late 1960’s that a shift from “Washington’s Birthday” to “Presidents’ Day” began. Congress proposed the “Uniform Monday Holiday Act.” Senator Robert McClory of Illinois championed this law, seeking to shift the celebration of several federal holidays from specific dates to a series of predetermined Mondays.

The law officially took effect in 1971 and included a provision to combine the celebration of Washington’s birthday with that of Abraham Lincoln. The third Monday of every February is Presidents’ Day in the United States. 

According to National Today, Presidents’ Day was moved to create more three-day weekends for the public. They hoped this would inspire greater productivity across the country. It was believed that the restorative effects of winter break have started to wear off at this time of the year, and citizens needed another break to regain some of that lost energy.

Usa.gov’s website gives us an idea of how the holiday is celebrated throughout our country:  

-Schools organize events for students about the presidents of the United States, especially George Washington. Each state celebrates with activities such as speeches and parades. 

-During federal holidays, the office’s Governments, banks, and some private sector companies are closed. “

The Old Farmer’s Almanac website states that in a sense, calling the holiday Presidents’ Day helps us reflect not only on the first president, but also on our nation’s founding, values, and what Washington calls in his Farewell Address, the “beloved Constitution and union, as received from the Founders.”

Here are some ideas from homeschoolhideout.com/presidents-day/ that you can use to celebrate Presidents’ Day:

  • Research your name: There were 6 presidents named James (Madison, Monroe, Polk, Buchanan, Garfield, and Carter), 5 named John (Adams, Quincy Adams, Tyler, Coolidge, Kennedy) and 4 named William (Harrison, McKinley, Taft, and Clinton.) For fun, have your kids look up their own name and see how many people have the same name as them. You can also discuss which names they think sound “presidential” and which names they think would never be sophisticated enough for a president.
  • Clean Coins: Do a fun yet simple experiment! Fill 4 different cups with one of the following: dish soap, vinegar, and salt, salt water, tap water; Then place 5 pennies in each cup and allow them to soak for 3 hours. Dump the liquid and compare the pennies, noting which liquid cleaned the pennies the best.
  • “If I was a president”: Have the kids brainstorm a list of changes they would make and write a speech, announcing it to the world. If we were in charge, the White House would become the Pink House. Horses would fill the yard. We would have as many dogs as our hearts desired. We would make recyclable money, made from trees instead of cotton.

To the nation, happy Presidents’ Day.

Below are quotes from former United States Presidents:

“Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who make excuses.” – George Washington

“On matters of style, swim with the current, on matters of principle, stand like a rock.” – Thomas Jefferson

“The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.” – James Madison 

“Try and fail, but don’t fail to try.” – John Quincy Adams

“It’s easier to do a job right, than to explain why you didn’t.” – Martin Van Buren 

“There is nothing more corrupting, nothing more destructive of the noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than the exercise of unlimited power.” – William Henry Harrison 

“It is not strange… to mistake change for progress” – Millard Fillmore 

“You don’t know what you can miss before you try.” – Franklin Pierce 

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” – Abraham Lincoln

“There are men and women who make the world better just by being the kind of people they are. They have the gift of kindness or courage or loyalty or integrity. It really matters very little whether they are behind the weel of a truck or running a business or bringing up a family. They teach the truth by living it.” – James Garfield 

“Great lives never go out; they go on.” – Benjamin Harrison 

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” – Theodore Roosevelt 

“Words without actions are the assassins of idealism.” ― Herbert Hoover

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight- it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

“It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” – Harry S. Truman

“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger–but recognize the opportunity.” – John F. Kennedy 

“We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” – Jimmy Carter 

“Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God.” – Ronald Reagan 

“A volunteer is a person who can see what others cannot see; who can feel what most do not feel. Often, such gifted persons do not think of themselves as volunteers, but as citizens – citizens in the fullest sense: partners in civilization.” – George H.W. Bush

“We all do better when we work together. Our differences do matter, but our common humanity matters more.” – Bill Clinton 

We can’t allow the world’s worst leaders to blackmail, threaten, hold freedom-loving nations hostage with the world’s worst weapons. – George W. Bush

“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” – Barack Obama

What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate. – Donald Trump

Through civil war to the Great Depression, World War, 9/11…our better angels have always prevailed. And each of these moments…enough of us have come together to carry all of us forward…we can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors..we can treat each other with dignity and respect. – Joe Biden

To the nation, happy Presidents’ Day.

 

About Author