MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2023 - PRESIDENT'S DAY

 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2023 - PRESIDENTS' DAY

Ah yes, President’s Day (Is there an apostrophe? President's or Presidents' or not - Presidents). My analysis is that the day "belongs" to all United States Presidents - so Presidents' Day.

The origin of Presidents’ Day lies in the 1880s when the birthday of Washington—commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and the first president of the United States—was first celebrated as a federal holiday. In 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill, which moved several federal holidays to Mondays. The change was designed to schedule certain holidays so that workers had several long weekends throughout the year, but it has been opposed by those who believe that those holidays should be celebrated on the dates they actually commemorate. During the debate on the bill, it was proposed that Washington’s Birthday be renamed Presidents’ Day to honor the birthdays of both Washington (February 22) and Lincoln (February 12); although Lincoln’s birthday was celebrated in many states, it was never an official federal holiday. Following much discussion, Congress rejected the name change. After the bill went into effect in 1971, however, Presidents’ Day became the commonly accepted name, due in part to retailers’ use of that name to promote sales and the holiday’s proximity to Lincoln’s birthday. Presidents’ Day is usually marked by public ceremonies in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country.

But, let’s digress a little.

There are maybe four basic forms of governance:  President, Premier, Dictator (King, Czar), and Council

In the American System, the President is the head of the country, the head of the executive branch of government.  The U.S. President is elected for four years and may be reelected to a second term.  After Franklin Roosevelt was elected four times, (and after his death), the constitution was amended to be only two terms.  One U.S. President (Grover Cleveland) was elected two but not in consecutive terms. (Elected in 1884 and 1992).

Many other countries follow the presidential election/leadership process.

The second most popular form of government is the “Premier” (Prime Minister) form.  In this form, a person is elected for a certain period (say six years) but can call for an election anytime.  So, if the Prime Minister is doing well, he (she)can call an election after (say) three years and get another six-year term.  

This system tends to have multiple political parties.  The Prime Minister is elected from his or her district and then forms a government.  They might have to form a coalition with other political groups to get a majority of seats in the representative parties.  This is common in Great Britain, Israel, and other places where groups like the Tories, the Conservative Christians, and the Independents can combine to make a majority party.  In this form, if some of the policies of the Prime Minister are unfavorable, a vote of no confidence is held and if the Prime Minister loses, an election will be held.  

The Dictator system might be called other things (including the President). A candidate is elected.  For example, Alexander Lukashenko is the Belarusian president since the establishment of the office on 20 July 1994, making him the longest-sitting European president. 

But, in elections over the years, Lukashenko has gotten 97% of the votes.  It isn’t an “open election” and dissidents may suffer hardships and even imprisonment. If you vote against the leader you become an “enemy of the state”.

In olden times once a leader became the king, he (or rarely she) had his son (rarely daughter) become king (queen) after him (her) - as a dictator.  “Divine Right of Kings”.

A Council system largely is where a governing body controls the decisions (more like a mayor/council in cities).

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I remember celebrating both Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12), and Washington’s Birthday (February 22) growing up.  I don’t remember if we had no school on those days, or if the teachers had bulletin boards for those two Presidents.  In Iowa, our neighboring state to the east was Illinois - “Land of Lincoln”.  

Washington's Birthday was the first federal holiday to honor an individual's birth date. In 1885, Congress designated February 22 as a holiday for all federal workers. Nearly a century later, in 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Law changed the date to the third Monday in February. 

(I remember some of the controversy surrounding the Uniform Monday Holiday law.  “The holiday should be celebrated on the correct day” was the mantra.  But having a three-day holiday for federal employees was a good bonus (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday).

Washington as the first president of the United States - with the specifications of the United States Constitution set the standard for the new nation:

Some accomplishments of Washington:

Judiciary Act of 1789.Six-member Supreme Court and the position of Attorney General. ...

Naturalization Act of 1790.

Residence Act of 1790

Copyright Act of 1790

Bank Act of 179

Excise Tax on Whiskey 179

Coinage Act of 1792

Militia Acts of 1792

Of course, none of these things were only done by Washington - but a joint effort of the executive branch (president), and the legislative branch (congress).  

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The second major President honored today is Abraham Lincoln.  Some of his significant events were:

“House Divided” Speech.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates.

Presidential Election of 1860

First Inaugural Address

Civil War Leadership. ...

Emancipation Proclamation

Gettysburg Address

Second Inaugural Address

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Of particular note is Washington’s Farewell Address where he summarizes his thoughts about the presidency.  (Be careful of political parties)

Likewise, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address helped keep the perspective of a unified America in the middle of the Civil War.

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And, a trivia question.  Mount Rushmore has four Presidents - Washington and Lincoln are two of the four.  Who are the other two?

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, © FEBRUARY 20, 2023

(The other two Presidents on Mount Rushmore are Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt)