Monday is Presidents Day.
The Presidents Day holiday has taken on a peculiar kind of piquancy, particularly if your taste runs to passionate politics.
Presidents Day came about because two U.S. presidents who raised passions for different reasons had birthdates close together. George Washington was born on Feb. 11, 1732, under the Julian calendar in use at the time. England adopted the new Gregorian calendar in 1752. On this calendar, the one we use today, Washington’s birthdate was Feb. 22.
As the result of his leading the 13 colonies to victory in the Revolutionary War and subsequent independence from England, Washington was so loved that he had to actively fight down an attempt to make him a king rather than the first elected president of the United States of America.
Abraham Lincoln, the president during the American Civil War, also aroused great passions. He was born on Feb. 12, 1809. Although venerated by most Americans in subsequent years, Lincoln was also a president who aroused as much animosity as love during a lifetime cut short by an assassin’s bullet.
Until 1971, Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdates were celebrated separately. Beginning in 1971, the third Monday of each February has been celebrated as Presidents Day, honoring Washington, Lincoln and all the other presidents.
On this third Monday of February 2015, Hawaii and the country have just undergone a sweeping change in political leadership. Hawaii has a new leader who ousted a sitting governor from his own party. Nationally, Republicans have taken over the U.S. Senate and now control both houses of Congress.
These changes took place peacefully through elections.
All of this democracy in action is due, in no small part, to the two presidents whose birthdays we celebrate Monday. One of them helped give birth to this great democracy, the other preserved it.
It is fitting to remember these two great Americans who made the peaceful transitions of democracy a reality.
(Portions of this editorial have appeared previously in The Maui News.)
* Editorials reflect the opinion of the publisher.
Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7rq3UoqWer6NjsLC5jqinoqaZpLtwscOiq6iqmZa5cH6PamxoaGJkvbOx0qKbnqakqHqlrdhmaWlpZWQ%3D