Presidents' Day

...is quite possibly the most worthless holiday we have in the United States.

It sprung from celebrations of Lincoln's Birthday (on February 12) and Washington's Birthday (on February 22) and so now Presidents' Day is celebrated on a Monday in February, I suppose the third Monday, and we all get a three-day weekend instead of two days off.

But this is not my problem with the upcoming holiday. My problem is people don't celebrate the presidents. Not once have I heard of someone preaching about the greatness of Abraham Lincoln on this holiday. Nor have I seen someone wearing a George Washington t-shirt.

If we're getting this day off, why aren't people celebrating even these greatest presidents?

But in addition, people further shun the lesser presidents. Maybe they'll think of Washington and Lincoln, maybe even the Roosevelts. But what about the Millard Fillmores and the William McKinleys and the Benjamin Harrisons of our land? Isn't it their holiday too?

But people don't celebrate any of this. So why should this holiday still exist?


That being said, on Monday I'm wearing a Chester Arthur t-shirt and posting multiple blogs about some of the presidents who get no love.

Abraham Lincoln and James Buchanan

I'm sorry if anyone is disappointed by the lack of Presidential Super Tournament in this post, but I had the most interesting conversation with a friend today about pre-Civil War presidents.

I mentioned that I liked Millard Fillmore for his dedication to preserving the Union, even if he wasn't wholly successful. (Of course, Fillmore is another blog.) My friend then said he didn't understand why wanting to preserve the Union was necessarily a good thing in a president. This point really struck me.

Think about it. Preserving the Union at all costs is an infringement on states' rights. States' rights vs. federal rights has been the main issue of American government from the founding, and we decide in modern times that states' rights in this case is the wrong side, and thus preserving the Union is a positive point on American presidents. Thus we say James Buchanan is a poor president (worst, according to my... sadly unupdated... list), because he did nothing to preserve the Union, and we say Abraham Lincoln is a good president (best, according to my list, because he went to war to save the Union).

As these thoughts rushed through my mind, I replied, "So if the United States lost the Civil War, we'd remember Abraham Lincoln as our worst president and James Buchanan as the best!"


Chew on that one for a while.