President’s 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 a number of federal holidays to Mondays. The change was designed to schedule certain holidays so that workers had a number of long weekends throughout the year. During the debate on the bill, it was proposed that Washington’s birthday be renamed Presidents’ Day to honor the birthdays of both Washington and Lincoln. Although Lincoln’s birthday was celebrated in many states, it was never an official federal holiday. Despite Congress rejecting the name change, after the bill went into effect in 1971, Presidents’ Day became the commonly accepted name in part to retailers’ use to promote sales.