For many Americans, Presidents Day is a welcome respite from work or school, an opportunity for a winter getaway, or simply a chance to take advantage of holiday sales. But this is a day with much historical significance for Americans and presidents themselves.
Some presidents have marked the day with formal ceremonies and public addresses, while others have taken a more unconventional approach.
The origins of Presidents Day lie in salutes to George Washington’s Feb. 22 birthday, some highly ceremonial and others strikingly unusual. In the early 19th century, for instance, a formal invitation invited guests including then-President Andrew Jackson to a “Washington’s Birth Night Ball,” one of the grand social affairs of the early Republic.
In 1837, the tone was more unorthodox when President Jackson opened the doors of the executive mansion on Washington’s birthday for citizens to enjoy an enormous cheese weighing nearly 1,400 pounds. Ever the populist, Jackson invited the public to join him in celebration and partake, a gesture reflecting his belief in an open and accessible White House.
Gatherings, celebrations, parades and public readings of Washington’s Farewell Address – still an annual tradition in the U.S. Senate chamber – show the reverence with which President Washington was and continues to be regarded, setting a precedent for later presidential commemorations.
By the 20th century, mass communication transformed how presidents marked the occasion. On Feb. 12, 1931, President Herbert Hoover, an early proponent of what he called “the magic of radio,” used the medium to address the nation on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, reflecting on the 16th president’s enduring legacy. This was one of the many examples of a president using modern technology to connect with the public on important national days.
