This is the real reason why we celebrate Presidents Day on a Monday
On June 28, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which meant that four United States holidays would land on Mondays when the law took effect in 1971.
One of those holidays is Presidents Day, which is next week, on Feb. 21 this year.
The holiday lands on the third Monday of February, even though it still celebrates the birthday of George Washington. The first U.S. president’s birthday is actually Feb. 22, perhaps making one wonder why we don’t simply celebrate Presidents Day on that day each year.
Well, that was the case starting with the first Presidents Day observance in 1885, and it was observed on Washington’s actual birthday every year, regardless of what day of the week it landed on, until the move by Congress and President Johnson to change it.
And the Uniform Monday Holiday Act didn’t just create a new day for Presidents Day each year. It also established Memorial Day on the last Monday of May, Veterans Day on the fourth Monday of October and Columbus Day on the second Monday of October.
After pushback on the Veterans Day change, President Gerald Ford in 1975 returned that holiday to Nov. 11 every year.
This is what Johnson said when he signed the bill into law, according to the American Presidency Project:
“This will mean a great deal to our families and our children. It will enable families who live some distance apart to spend more time together. Americans will be able to travel farther and see more of this beautiful land of ours. They will be able to participate in a wider range of recreational and cultural activities.”
In short, Johnson wanted to provide Americans with more three-day weekends to get out, see family and explore the country.
Consequently, Presidents Day has not fallen on Washington’s birthday since the change. Three other presidents have February birthdays — William Henry Harrison, Feb. 9; Abraham Lincoln, Feb. 12; and Ronald Reagan, Feb. 6 — but there is no way the holiday could fall on their birthdays.
The decision to move Presidents Day and make the other three-day weekends garnered huge support from both the private sector and labor unions, with them seeing the move as a surefire way to bolster retail sales, avoid absenteeism and increase productivity in the workplace.
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 1:00 PM.
