To celebrate this year’s Presidents’ Day holiday (George Washington’s birthday), Team AgLearn is providing information and resources to encourage all users to learn more about President Washington and the United States Presidency.
Background
“The Presidents’ Day federal holiday is observed the third Monday in February, recognizing George Washington’s birthday and honoring the history of the American presidency. In the late 1870s, Senator Steven Wallace Dorsey proposed the idea of adding Washington's birth date, February 22, to the four existing bank holidays previously approved in 1870. Signed into law January 31, 1879, by President Rutherford B. Hayes, the law was implemented in 1880 and applied only to District federal workers. Washington's Birthday had become the first Federal holiday to single out an individual's birth date, and the honor lasted for less than a century. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill which moved a number of Federal holidays to Mondays. In 1971, with the implementation of the Uniform Monday Holiday Law (82 Stat. 250) External Link, the third Monday in February became the date on which Washington's Birthday is celebrated. Some reformers had wanted to change the name of the holiday as well to Presidents' Day, in honor of both Lincoln and Washington, but that proposal was rejected by Congress and the holiday remained officially Washington's Birthday. While the name change has never been authorized by Congress, it has gained a strong hold on the public consciousness to honor all U.S. Presidents, and is generally used on calendars, in advertising, and even by many government agencies.”
More information about Presidents’ Day External Link
AgLearn Resources
- Audiobook: The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of the Nation External Link
- Audiobook: An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States: Revisioning American History External Link
- eBook: George Washington's Leadership Lessons: What the Father of Our Country Can Teach Us About Effective Leadership and Character External Link
- eBook: Insights for Managers from Confucius to Gandhi External Link
- eBook: The 100: Insights and Lessons from 100 of the Greatest Speakers and Speeches Ever Delivered External Link
- eBook: Launchpad Republic: America's Entrepreneurial Edge and Why It Matters External Link
- Learning Path: Become a Leader External Link
- Learning Path: The Top 15 Most Popular Courses: Leadership Edition External Link
- Course: Top 10 Rules for Highly Effective Leadership External Link
- Course: Public Speaking Foundations External Link
Supplemental Presidents’ Day Resources
- Article from the National Archives: “Washington’s Birthday (Presidents Day)” External Link
- Article from the National Archives: “By George, IT IS Washington’s Birthday!” External Link
- Article from the Smithsonian Magazine: “‘Presidents’ Day’ Doesn’t Actually Exist” External Link
- Information about every U.S. President from The White House External Link
- From the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History: “The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden” External Link