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In Focus: Holiday of the Month - Presidents' Day 2007 

George Washington (copyright: Library of Congress)

Washington's Birthday Holiday Honors "Father of our Country" 

Americans long have honored George Washington, commander of the United States armies in the War of Independence, first President of the United States and "first in the hearts of his countrymen."

On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James Madison, "it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles."

Washington enjoyed nearly universal respect, not least for spurning all offers of political power at the moment of his military triumph (1781), choosing instead to return to his Mount Vernon, Virginia farm. When leading Americans in 1787 drafted the new Constitution, they were willing to afford the executive branch greater powers because they anticipated that Washington, who could be counted on not to abuse his office, would serve as the chief executive, and would establish important precedents for his successors. In 1789, he was unanimously elected first President of the United States. During his tenure, Washington was concerned with setting a precedent for judgment and dignity. He established the executive departments, laid the foundations for the modern judiciary and created a diplomatic service. Still the most popular figure in America at the end of his second four-year term, Washington again decided to relinquish power, establishing an informal eight-year limit later formalized by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution (1951).

It has been said that the American people themselves forced Congress to establish the Washington's Birthday holiday. 19th century Americans commonly celebrated a holiday on February 22, the day of Washington's birth under the Gregorian calendar adopted by Britain and its colonies in 1752. Apparently motivated by chronic employee absenteeism on that date, Congress in 1879 declared Washington's Birthday a legal public holiday.

In 1971, Congress fixed Washington's Birthday and a number of other holidays on Mondays, to create long holiday weekends. Because a number of states (but not the federal government) also celebrated the February 12 birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President, many Americans have come to believe -- incorrectly -- that the third Monday of February is a onsolidated "Presidents' Day." The misconceptions and confusions surrounding this holiday are explained in a two part article titled "By George, IT IS Washington's Birthday!" in Prologue, Winter 2004, a publication of the National Archives and Records Administration.

The federal holiday, however, remains Washington's Birthday. It is but one way in which Americans celebrate the life of the man often called the "father of his country." The 555 foot (169 meter) high Washington Monument, dedicated in 1885, dominates the skyline of the nation's capital, Washington D.C. Washington's 60-foot (18 meter) high likeness was carved in stone (completed 1941) on South Dakota's Mount Rushmore, along with those of Presidents Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. In 1976, Congress posthumously promoted Washington to the rank of six-star General of the Armies, assuring that he would continue to outrank all other members of the military, now and in the future.

March 2007