Today is not Presidents Day. So let's all stop pretending it is.
Happy George Washington's Birthday! Presidents Day is not a federal holiday. Even if the makers of the SAT think it is.
A statue of George Washington in the US Capitol building in Washington in October, 2013.
Jim Bourg/Reuters/File
Today is not 鈥淧resident鈥檚 Day.鈥� Presidents鈥� Day is not a federal holiday. Officially, Feb. 15, 2016 is George Washington鈥檚 Birthday. Presidents Day is a myth.
(Note to editor: The wandering apostrophe in the above paragraph is intentional. It鈥檚 supposed to symbolize the fact that Presidents Day partisans can鈥檛 even agree on how the day鈥檚 name is spelled.)
Sure, some states have voted to recognize today with the 鈥淧鈥� word. But most of them haven鈥檛. And Washington takes the lead in the United States, holiday-wise. Federal law determines when federal workers get a three-day weekend, and the rest of the country follows suit. That makes the whole thing more efficient.
So why do all the mattress stores advertise Presidents Day sales instead of George Washington Birthday blowouts? Why does the College Board 鈥� the organization that runs the SATs, and thus should know better 鈥� post #PresidentsDay trivia on ?听
It鈥檚 a herd mentality. That鈥檚 all we can think of.
But here is the bitter truth: Washington鈥檚 Birthday has been a US holiday since 1886.
In the late 1960s, Congress decided it was time to move all US holidays around, so as to maximize three-day weekend-buying and driving and grilling time. Washington鈥檚 Birthday got thrown into the mix. Some states thought it would be a great idea to take the existing GWB, move it to late February, add Abraham Lincoln鈥檚 Birthday, and make it a 鈥淧resident鈥檚 Day鈥� to honor Old Abe as well as the Father of Our Country.
Illinois loved the move. Virginia did not. Virginia lawmakers moved to protect the singularity of the day for Washington. They prevailed.
Don鈥檛 believe it? Take a look at the federal Office of Personnel Management . See? That鈥檚 what it says right there for today 鈥� 鈥淢onday February 15*, Washington鈥檚 Birthday.鈥澛�
That asterisk links to an explanation on the bottom of the page. We鈥檒l quote it in full to make the point.
*This 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. Though 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.
鈥淣ames designated in law鈥� 鈥� take that, College Board. Hope this isn鈥檛 an SAT question. If it is, you鈥檙e looking for an answer that鈥檚 wrong.