Presidents Day

The third Monday in February each year falls on a US federal holiday called Washington's Birthday, but is known to others as Presidents' Day. In 1968, American head of state Lyndon Johnson signed a single bill creating three national holidays, which would be celebrated on three designated Mondays each year. The new holidays came into effect on January 1, 1971. This bill added three days off for federal employees. These holidays were: Washington's Birthday, set on the third Monday in February; Memorial Day is on the last Monday in May and Veterans Day is celebrated on the fourth Monday in October. In 1968, there was an attempt to change the name of the holiday from "Washington's Birthday" to "Presidents' Day", but this part of the bill did not pass. The term "Presidents' Day" arose more for marketing purposes in business. On this day, companies offered to save money by making discounts in all stores and business centers in order to attract consumers. Until 1971, the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (February 12th) and George Washington (February 22nd) were celebrated as separate holidays. Federal structures such as schools and offices were closed for two days. Both Washington and Lincoln were great leaders. The former helped bring the country together during the war, and the latter helped bring it together after the civil war. Chief Executive Nixon ordered all presidential birthdays to be celebrated on one day in February. According to the new bill, on Lincoln's birthday, all federal employees returned to their jobs, and students began training. Each state regulates which federal holiday to observe. For example, some states in the southern part of the country do not recognize Lincoln due to the consequences of the Civil War. Jefferson Davis, who was the head of the Confederate States of America, is more revered here. An additional dilemma was the name of the holiday itself. In the mid-1980s, many Americans changed Washington's Birthday to Presidents Day. This was fully solidified in the early 2000s, when more than half of the 50 states officially changed the name on their calendars.