States Should Declare February 22 the Holiday of George Washington’s Birthday

            All of the American States should declare February 22, or at least the closet Monday to it, a state holiday of “George Washington’s Birthday” or “Washington’s Birthday.”

            I have posted nearly every year about how the federal holiday of “Presidents’ Day” diminishes the significance of the holiday that was intended to honor George Washington above anyone else as the Father of Our Country for all of his accomplishments before, during and after his presidency.  See my posts from February of 2009 and 2010, respectively, Presidents’ Day vs. Washington’s Birthday, http://www.williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2009/02/presidents-day-vs-washingtons-birthday.html and February of 2010, Eliminate the Presidents’ Day Holiday,

http://www.williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2010/02/eliminate-presidents-day-holiday.html and from March of 2012, Rep. Frank Wolfe Proposes to Restore February 22 as a Federal Holiday for Washington’s Birthday,

http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2012/03/rep-frank-wolfe-proposed-to-restore.html.

The meaning of the holiday has been diluted in two ways: its scheduling on dates other than on his birthday and the removal of Washington’s name from the holiday in common parlance and its association with others (i.e. all of the Presidents).  Several federal holidays are observed on the Mondays closest to the dates they are intended to honor, but because of the proximity of Abraham Lincoln’s February 16 birthday, Washington’s Birthday was moved to the third Monday of the month.  Thus, the holiday never falls on Washington’s February 22 birthday, as it would occasionally even if it were celebrated on the nearest Monday.  Indeed, even though the federal holiday is still officially called “Washington’s Birthday,” because of its placement between the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln, it has popularly come to be called Presidents’ Day, and not even “Washington and Lincoln’s Birthdays.”  More than 20 States have officially renamed their corresponding state holidays as “Presidents’ Day” or “President’s Day.”  The day has therefore become the holiday for the cult of the presidency instead of fulfilling its original purpose of honoring a great man.  See my post from February of 2009, George Washington the Great, http://www.williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2009/02/george-washington-great.html.

In addition to the States that do not include Washington’s name in their public holidays, several other States include other individuals in the name of the holiday, such as Lincoln, or the Presidents in general.  Usually, these holidays are observed on the same date as the federal holiday; no state observes February 22 as a public holiday.  The state holidays that honor George Washington specifically, even if including others, are less diluting than “Presidents’ Day.”  However, all of the current state holidays nonetheless add to the dilution of the significance of the holiday because, like the federal holiday, they never fall on Washington’s February 22 birthday.   

I call upon all 50 of the States in the Union to restore the rightful meaning of the public holiday intended to honor George Washington by declaring February 22 or the closest Monday to it a state holiday named for him alone.