Did you know President’s Day was created back in 1879 to bring the country together? After the Civil War, we had a lot of people who didn’t agree on much. Sound familiar?
So a Senator named Stephen Dorsey proposed a national holiday that would honor someone everybody respected, George Washington. It was all in the name of reconciliation. By the 20th century, the holiday was moved to the third Monday in February to make it a three-day weekend and changed to honor all presidents. Even the current one.
Donald Trump has said that he is the second-greatest president, behind only Abraham Lincoln. So, Washington, in the Donald’s mind, is no better than third place. That should send George for a few spins. Here’s the irony. President Washington was all about gentlemanly and civilized behavior. He wanted to set a tone and a high standard for a new country. From NBC News:
Washington’s lack of education led to an intense focus on the outward manifestations of “civilized behavior” as understood by his Virginia tobacco planter culture…. Virtue, for a gentleman of the day, was an element of character: you either had it or you didn’t. Presenting yourself with refinement, with dignity and restraint, was a way of reflecting what you felt inside. Public acknowledgment sealed the deal.
It was essential, he wrote to Vice President John Adams at the outset of his term, that “the President in all matters of business & etiquette” must comport himself “in such a manner as to maintain the dignity of Office.”
And every president since has tried to emulate that dignity and maintain the decorum of the office. Until now.