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We know we鈥檙e swimming up a creek without a paddle here, but there is no federal Presidents鈥� Day holiday. We don鈥檛 care what your mattress ad says 鈥� is that a legal document?

The official name of Monday鈥檚 day off is 鈥�George Washington鈥檚 Birthday.鈥� It鈥檚 supposed to honor the Father of Our Country, and only him. Not Abraham Lincoln, not Franklin D. Roosevelt, not any other of the nation鈥檚 former chief executives. Chester A. Arthur will just have to get his own holiday, if he can.

If you still don鈥檛 believe us take a look at the federal government鈥檚 Office of Personnel Management list of 2013 holidays. It鈥檚 the official word for the time off US bureaucrats enjoy. It calls Monday, Feb. 18, 鈥淲ashington鈥檚 Birthday,鈥� with an asterisk. At the bottom of the page the asterisk leads to a footnote.

鈥淭his holiday is designated as 鈥榃ashington鈥檚 Birthday鈥� in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees,鈥� says OPM. 鈥淭hough other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, it is our policy to always refer to holidays by the names designated in law.鈥�

Washington鈥檚 Birthday has been a national holiday since 1885.

In 1968, when Congress was considering a shuffle of three-day weekends with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, some Illinois lawmakers tried to get the February holiday stretched to cover Abe Lincoln by calling it 鈥淧residents Day.鈥� But according to an account in the National Archives Prologue Magazine, Virginia legislators, jealous of their state鈥檚 prerogatives, blocked the change and maintained Washington as First in Our Hearts, First in the National League East, and First in Special-Today-Only Used Car Discounts.

But this got us thinking. As OPM notes above, the states can do what they want. Illinois recognizes Lincoln鈥檚 Birthday as a separate state holiday, for instance. This year they celebrated it on Feb. 12.

Are there any other presidents 鈥� besides Abe and George 鈥� who have special state days unnoticed by the nation at large?

Yes there are! In Texas, Aug. 27 is recognized as Lyndon Baines Johnson day. That鈥檚 the date of LBJ鈥檚 actual birthday. State agencies aren鈥檛 completely closed that day, but only skeleton crews are required. (Everybody else is home trying to make it through Robert Caro鈥檚 Alamo-sized LBJ bio, perhaps.)

And in Missouri, May 8 is set aside as Truman Day, honoring the feisty former haberdasher from Independence on his birthday.

A few years ago there was a move in Missouri to stop the practice of giving state offices Truman Day off. It cost too much money, supporters of the prospective change said. But Harry鈥檚 supporters rallied and it鈥檚 still a state holiday. There鈥檚 probably a 鈥渂uck stops here鈥� joke in that somewhere 鈥� feel free to find it.

Anyway, we feel this is a challenge to other states to match Texas and Missouri in honoring their own. For instance, seven presidents were born in Ohio. Sure, they weren鈥檛 exactly the Founding Fathers 鈥� William McKinley was maybe the best of the bunch 鈥� but that鈥檚 still quite a numerical accomplishment. Shouldn鈥檛 the Buckeye State recognize that in some day-off way?

New York鈥檚 had lots of presidents, so ditto. Vermont had one, Calvin Coolidge, but shouldn鈥檛 the flinty New Englander get more of his due? And California, big as it is, has had but one native-born chief executive. Should they make more of a deal about that?

No, it wasn鈥檛 Ronald Reagan, he鈥檚 from Illinois. It was Richard Nixon. So maybe that would be a bit, um, problematic.