Why do we celebrate Presidents Day? For most people, Presidents day is a day to celebrate all presidents by taking the third Monday of the month of February off. However, it was not always like this.

In 1885, Washington’s birthday was established in honor of the first president of the United States, George Washington, and celebrated as a Federal holiday on February 22. This remained the same until the year 1968.

In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill. The Bill was established to allow for longer and more frequent weekends throughout the year for workers. This, however, also faced some controversy by those who were adamant in their belief that holidays should only be celebrated on the dates they commemorate; the bill was never changed.

With the shift to Washington’s Birthday falling on the third Monday of February, many came to celebrate President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday as well as it fell on February 12. When the bill came into effect in 1971, retailers used the name ¨President’s Day¨ to promote sales and led to the commonly accepted name of ¨President’s Day¨. 

From then, despite the official name in the federal government being ¨Washington’s Birthday¨ the third Monday of February is celebrated in Washington, D.C with public ceremonies and many more across the country as ¨President’s Day¨