The White House released somewhat of a primer for George Washington’s Birthday Feb. 19, pointing out a few nuances and particulars of Washington’s Birthday vs. the contemporary “Presidents’ Day.”
It’s still “Washington’s Birthday” says the administration—an event celebrated during the first president’s life and thereafter. Washington’s actual birthday falls on Feb. 22, which became a federal holiday in 1879. In 1968 several federal holidays were bumped to Mondays, which put Washington’s birthday on the third Monday of February each year. That date always falls in between Abraham Lincoln’s birthday of Feb. 12 and Washington’s—and can never fall on the Feb. 22.
The release notes that in 1968 an attempt was also made by an Illinois congressman to officially change the day to “Presidents’ Day, but Virginia legislators weren’t too keen on it and the measure dropped.
Though still commonly known as “Presidents’ Day,” the official holiday is Washington’s Birthday.
“By taking the time to remember and celebrate George Washington’s life each February, all Americans have the opportunity to be grateful for the sacred Founding of this country and the values for which it stands,” the primer read. “When Washington resigned from the presidency after two terms, he set a precedent for the peaceful transfer of power that continues to stand out as a moral example to the free world.”
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