WHAT HAPPENED to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays? Oh sure, they're still noted on the calendar, February 22 and February 12, respectively. But we as a nation have been giving these two historical dates short shrift of late. And it's all because of Presidents' Day.
Even though it's been a bona fide national holiday since 1971, I am still uneasy with Presidents' Day. It reminds me of Secretaries' Day -- except we don't run out and buy cards and flowers to send to President Clinton . . . well, not all of us at least.
Setting aside a day to honor all American presidents bothers me for a couple of reasons. First, I don't believe that every single one of our presidents necessarily deserves to be honored. Some may argue, however, that it is not the individuals we celebrate, it is the office, which brings me to my second objection. Why celebrate an office? We might as well have an Attorneys General's Day, or a Senators' Day. Or we might just wrap it all into one and call it Politicians' Day.
Presidents' Day, sandwiched as it is between Lincoln and Washington's birthdays, effectively shifts the focus from these two extraordinary presidents who truly do deserve to be honored, to a nebulous, generic, " All Presidents' Day." So it is that William Henry Harrison, Franklin Pierce, and Chester Arthur are thrown into the same celebratory soup as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Presidents all, but with no distinction made for individual accomplishments.
But we mustn't leave a single president out -- oh, no. It wouldn't be fair. We cannot exclude anyone, you see, because we live in a time when being fair to all is much more valued than rewarding individual achievement. The problem is, when we honor all, we honor none.
But if we must be fair to all, then why stop with presidents? We could change Martin Luther King's birthday to Civil Rights Leaders' Day. And, to be all inclusively fair, shouldn't we alter Christmas, too? We could make it Religion Founders' Day. And why on February 2 do we honor groundhogs when we could be celebrating Rodents' Day?
Frankly, I miss the cultural and even the commercial aspects of Washington and Lincoln's birthdays. For one thing, the cherry pies. As a kid, I remember seeing cherry pie recipes in every magazine and newspaper just prior to February 22. The supermarkets and bakeries were well stocked with cherry pies, and Mom made one every year. What happened to all the cherry pies?
And there were Washington dollar sales and white sales in all the department stores. The one-cent sales on Lincoln's birthday (Lincoln head pennies, get it?) were a big deal, too, in my state, where Lincoln's birthday was a holiday. We still have the sales, but now they're called Presidents' Day Weekend Blowout Sales. Sounds charming, doesn't it?
Another thing I miss is the fun of having two separate days off -- and on different days of the week each year. There was something excitingly wicked about getting a day off from school in the middle of the week, say on a Wednesday or Thursday, then 10 days later getting another day off. Sometimes one of the days would fall on a Monday or Friday and it was like a little bonus.
Presidents' Day is always on the third Monday of February, which means a three-day weekend every year. Which is nice, sure. Another excuse to get out of town for a couple of days. But in the process we've lost one of the birthdays. Some calendars note Presidents' Day as "Washington's birthday (observed)" -- which means poor ol' Abe's day has gotten bumped.
More important, we don't hear the old stories anymore. Remember how "Honest Abe" would walk for miles in his bare feet just to keep his promise to return a book he'd borrowed? Or how little George took complete responsibility for chopping down the cherry tree?
These legends helped define our Founding Fathers as ethical heroes worth emulating. They demonstrated solid moral lessons, a sense of right and wrong, the importance of being honest, playing fair, and telling the truth. People respecting other people's property and trying to do the good and right thing.
Now, in our revisionist enlightened culture, we are told that our leaders were really flawed rogues, self-serving slave-owners, womanizers, adulterers, and maybe worse. Actually, Washington and Lincoln were good and ethical men. Two genuine heroes, besides, who helped create what has become the greatest country on earth. Their birthdays should be remembered and celebrated -- separately -- just as their talents, deeds, and accomplishments were separate and unique.
Things aren't all bad, though. We can take heart in that while we have lost the birthday celebrations for George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, we have at least gained a three-day weekend. Hallelujah! Where do ya wanna go?
Greg Crosby writes a weekly column for Jewish World Review.