Today is President’s Day in the U.S. - celebrated on the 3rd Monday in February for the last 30 or so years.
It’s a bank holiday, a federal holiday and in some states it is even observed as a state holiday.
Even though it has been Presidents (President’s OR Presidents’ - no one can seem to agree on the punctuation) Day since the early 1970s, some folks can tell you they still remember a time when we observed Washington’s Birthday and/or Lincoln’s Birthday (both of whom were born during this month).
Many adults today can still remember the paper cutout silhouettes of George and Abe that would adorn bulletin boards in elementary school classrooms - along with Valentine’s Day hearts - in February.
I read up on some Presidents Day information this morning and it seems that George gets more love on this day than Abe. I guess that’s understandable. He is the Father of the Country and all. Plus, his birthday is close to the observance of this federal holiday (while Lincoln’s birthday was earlier in the month).
It hard to argue against the greatness of both of them, in the evolution of our nation’s history. People use the “Mount Rushmore” metaphor to line up the ‘greats’ from a certain walk of life. Who are on the “Mount Rushmore” of the New York Yankees? Who are the “Mount Rushmore of Rock and Roll Bands”? Who form the “Mount Rushmore of American inventors”…and on and on.
Washington and Lincoln, of course, are part of the “Mount Rushmore of Mount Rushmore!”
Apart from that, they top any Top 10 list of greatest American Presidents you see. They always make the Top 10 (if not the Top 5).
In any case, they share this day. I wonder what they would have thought of each other?
JG
(Source: Yahoo!)
Originally posted 1/20/2012
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