Presidents' Day
Presidents’ Day
Presidents' Day dates back to our founding father and first President, George Washington. Washington was born on February 22, 1732. On his birthday in 1796, when Washington was in his last full year as president, the day became the holiday known as Washington's Birthday. However, Americans didn't observe this holiday until 1832, 100 years after his birth.
Nicknamed "Honest Abe" for his honesty and fairness and coming from very humble beginnings, Abraham Lincoln is the finest example of what an individual can achieve with hard work and the ambition to learn and to lead. He read constantly and went to great pains to get his hands on any books he could find to further his quest for knowledge. In his youth he walked miles to get to the only school house in his region. He did his homework by the light of the fire and used the back of a shovel to work out his sums, mathematics. His earliest reading material was the family bible and he relied on the truths it offered him and the comfort he derived from them throughout his whole life. Lincoln had stated when he was a candidate for Senator of Illinois,
"A house divided against itself cannot stand.
I believe this government cannot endure permanently, half slave, half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved.
I do not expect the house to fall-but I do expect it will cease to be divided.
It will become all one thing, or all the other."
Presidents’ day was created to celebrate Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Presidents’ day is now celebrated on the 15th of February.
By: Carolyn Saad and Eric Wood