BP4 QTR3: President's Day

   I think that Presidents Day should stay as it is with the name it has right now. I think that this day should be for all presidents because the third Monday of February rarely falls on Washington’s actual birthday.  Also other presidents like FDR, JFK and Reagan can be celebrated on this same day in February.  Washington himself would not mind sharing this day with all other presidents.  He would actually rather have it that way since he turned down power three or four times before he became president.  Washington wanted to make sure that the presidency was much more than just the person holding the office so no one person could hold absolute power.

In a letter to George S. Washington on December 5, 1790, President Washington wrote “To point out the importance of circumspection in your conduct, it may be proper to observe that a good moral character is the first essential of man, and that the habits contracted at your age are generally indelible, and your conduct here may stamp your character through life. It is therefore highly important that you should endeavor not only to be learned but virtuous.”  Virtuous is something that Washington valued not only in himself but in others.  He viewed his role as president as one to serve others and believed that the people held all the power in the United States.  He did not like for people to celebrate or revere him as a great person and was very humble as president.  I think that he would feel the same way about this holiday and that it should be for all presidents and not just for himself.

When Daniel Webster spoke of Washington at Bunker Hill June 17, 1842 he said “To him who denies or doubts whether our fervid liberty can be combined with law, with order, with the security of property, with the pursuits and advancement of happiness; to him who denies that our forms of government are capable of producing exaltation of soul, and the passion of true glory; to him who denies that we have contributed any thing to the stock of great lessons and great examples; to all these I reply by pointing to Washington.”  This is how people who knew Washington remember him and his virtuous leadership example as President of the United States.  It is Washington’s own example of being a leader that served the people and an individual that disliked having all the power and attention that makes me think that he would prefer that President’s Day remain with its current name so that all 44 US presidents are recognized on the 3^rd Monday of February. 

Overall I think President’s Day is a good name for the holiday because it does not put all the attention on Washington which he would not have liked very much.  It is nice that the holiday remains in February so we can remember the month and celebrate President’s Day near the time of Washington’s birthday.  It is nice to remember the first president but from what Washington himself wrote and what others who knew him shared, he would probably request that all presidents get recognition on the same day for how they served their country.