News Detail
President's Day: Washington's Birthday
The federal holiday, Presidents’ Day, was originally called Washington’s Birthday and was a day marked in celebration of George Washington each year. Nevertheless, it has never been celebrated on his original date of birth and is now often shared with other presidents. Since 1968, the third Monday of February each year has been designated Presidents’ Day and was the cause of the recent four-day weekend.
In 1879—years after Washington’s death—President Chester A. Arthur first designated the February 22 a federal holiday to recognize “the father of our country,” George Washington. Even before becoming an official holiday, citizens observed the day with festivities to honor the man who commanded the Continental Army, led the American colonies to victory in the Revolutionary War, and served as first President of the United States of America. Even while Washington was still president, his birthday was celebrated across the new nation.
The federal holiday, Presidents’ Day, was originally called Washington’s Birthday and was a day marked in celebration of George Washington each year. Nevertheless, it has never been celebrated on his original date of birth and is now often shared with other presidents. Since 1968, the third Monday of February each year has been designated Presidents’ Day and was the cause of the recent four-day weekend.
In 1879—years after Washington’s death—President Chester A. Arthur first designated the February 22 a federal holiday to recognize “the father of our country,” George Washington. Even before becoming an official holiday, citizens observed the day with festivities to honor the man who commanded the Continental Army, led the American colonies to victory in the Revolutionary War, and served as first President of the United States of America. Even while Washington was still president, his birthday was celebrated across the new nation.
Since the days of President Arthur, the holiday has transformed. The celebrations vary according to state. Some observe it jointly with Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, as a combined holiday celebrating at once two of the greatest presidents in the United States. Others treat it as a catchall celebration of the men who have served our country as president over the years.
President Nixon passed an executive order, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968 to create more three-day weekends for schools and government workers. To do this, he moved several federal holidays from set dates, as Veterans’ Day on November 11, to designated Mondays. Among theses were Washington’s Birthday, Columbus Day, and Memorial Day, which previously fell mid-week much of the time and were not holidays from work. According to the act, however, the holiday remains Washington’s Birthday rather than Presidents’ Day.
This act removed the holiday from Washington’s actual birthday, and it began to transform into Presidents’ Day.
The forms of celebration have varied in the celebration, and various groups such as the Boy Scouts and townships hold memorials and parades. One of the longest standing Senate traditions, since 1896, is a reading of Washington’s 1796 Farewell Address on the legislative floor by one of the senators each year. Each year a senator reads the 7,641-word speech to the congregated body on George Washington’s birthday. Because they read it on his birthday, this does not actually occur on Presidents’ Day but on Washington’s birthday.
But even the senate is only mostly accurate, since Washington was actually born on February 11, 1732, prior to the shift from the Julian to the Gregorian calendars. When the West, as a whole, transitioned to the Gregorian calendar because it is more accurate to the movements of the planets, eleven days were cut from the month of September in 1752. As a result, Washington, among many others, changed his birthday by eleven days to the 22 instead. When he turned 31, Washington changed his birthday to the day the senate celebrates with his speech.
Washington’s hand-written, 32-page address is remarkable beyond its commemoration in the Senate each year. The address represents Washington turning down a third term in office and rejecting the men who sought to make a king of the presidency by making it a life term. Washington believed that liberties of Americans would be better served and protected by election of a new leader, as in the election this past November.
Come visit us!
Physical Address:
2500 S. Park Loop Rd.
Jackson, WY 83001
2500 S. Park Loop Rd.
Jackson, WY 83001
Contact Us
Enrollment Inquiries:
Lisa Landis, Admissions
(307) 201-5040
All Other Inquiries:
School Office
(307) 201-5040
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 7466
Jackson, WY 83002
Follow us on Facebook
LANGUAGE
© 2025 Jackson Hole Classical Academy. All Rights Reserved.
Nondiscrimination Policy: Jackson Hole Classical Academy admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. Jackson Hole Classical Academy does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.