Last week, I successfully debunked the myth of St. Valentine’s Day. (St. Valentine’s Day doesn’t exist. February 14th is Ss. Cyril and Methodius Day. St. Valentine lost the day in 1969.)
Now, on George Washington’s real birthday, let me debunk the myth of Presidents Day. There is no national Presidents Day.
Congress made Washington’s Birthday a national holiday in 1885. It moved the holiday to the third Monday of February in 1971. Believe it or not, you celebrated Washington’s Birthday yesterday, as usual.
That’s because Congress never changed the name to Presidents Day. Never.
Nixon myth. There is an urban legend that, when Washington’s Birthday was moved to a Monday in 1971, President Nixon declared it Presidents Day. Well, that's not true. The only president to declare it Presidents Day was President Clinton, who accidentally made such an announcement in 2000. But Congress did not change the name, and no president can amend the law on his own.
So it’s Washington’s Birthday. Stop screwing it up with that watered-down "Presidents Day" garbage. I’m not celebrating Nixon or Clinton. I'm celebrating the good George Washington did.
Frank Warner
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