George Washington’s Birthday

Every third Monday in February, the country celebrates what is known as President’s Day.  However, the name of this holiday is incorrect and should be called by its proper term – Washington’s Birthday.  Although it’s a great gesture for Americans to give tribute to their presidents of the past from Adams to Wilson and even that rapscallion Franklin Pierce, the fact of the matter is that George Washington deserves his own holiday.

Who is George Washington and why does he necessitate a national holiday on his birthday, you ask?  Well, George Washington is many things to many people.  He was a son, a Virginian, a county surveyor, and a colonial activist.  He could have been king but rather settled on the title of president and he also kicked off America’s long standing tradition of democracy by voluntarily relinquishing his presidency to John Adams without any blood shed.  For those of you who may be questioning George Washington’s strength as a man due to the fact that he didn’t put up any fight against John Adams taking his job, you must remember that George Washington also served an important role with the revolutionary American armed forces. 

As commander in chief of the revolutionary armed forces, George Washington was pretty damn instrumental in the American colonies obtaining their independence from England.  Through a variety of tactics, George Washington was able to take his rag-tap, under funded, and much smaller militia all of the way to the top as they defeated the British army, which at the time was the mightiest military power in the world!  This upset can only be compared to last year’s NBA finals as George Washington led his crew of upstarts lacking big military names into a shocking but surprisingly easy victory against the more bloated and cocky British army much like the Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers.

Strategies for Washington’s victory included emphasizing the merits of ”fighting the right way” and of subtly wearing darker clothes so the British would be unable to see the American troops allowing for easy attacks by the Americans against the British soldiers who were wearing comically bright Sgt. Pepper-esque uniforms.  However, George Washington’s legacy is not simply tied to his role in leading the revolutionary American forces.  Rather, the main reason why George Washington’s Birthday is a national holiday is due to his stellar actions as America’s first president.

President George Washington had the difficult role of creating legitimacy to a new form of government.  Indeed, it speaks to the great character of George Washington that he took the assignment of president despite his desire to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon only after he saw the weakness of the original Articles of Confederation.  A major force in the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, George Washington was instrumental in establishing many of the political ideals that have become the bedrock of American values.  Unanimously elected as president by the Electoral College once the Constitution was ratified, Washington set the precedent for future presidents by not interfering with the policy making powers of Congress.  Additionally, Washington’s legacy can be felt in his Farewell Address of 1796, which he gave near the end of his second term as president.  In this vital document, Washington outlined excellent advice for retaining the strength of the American government that is now viewed as core American political values.

His advice included the importance of upholding the constitution by outlining how most free governments is destroyed by opposition to the lawful authority of democratically elected government.  He also warned against the politics of passion, which he saw firsthand at the end of his presidency as partisanship among two rival political groups were beginning to ferment.  Additionally, Washington emphasized the importance of protecting American independence and described the primary objective of American foreign policy to achieving goals of liberty rather than conquest.

Due to his extremely influential role on American political and social culture, it’s only fitting that George Washington is celebrated on his birthday through a national holiday.  Washington’s Birthday was celebrated as early as 1778 but only became recognized as a national holiday by Congress in 1870.  In 1971, President Richard Nixon changed the date of George Washington’s Birthday from his actual birthday of February 22^nd to the third Monday in February.  Regardless of whether it’s referred to as President’s Day or George Washington’s Birthday, this date should be one where Americans recognize the importance of George Washington and remember his ideals, which are too often forgotten by the American populace.