– U.S.
The
first president of the United States, George Washington, was born on
February 22, 1732—and that date used to be vigorously celebrated by
Americans.
Another
important presidential birthday is remarkably close in the calendar
year: Abraham Lincoln's birthday is February 12. Some workers and
students are given both days off as holidays—and this was, perhaps,
more common in the past (such as when I was a kid), since back then
we didn't have days off for Columbus Day or for Martin Luther King,
Jr.
Nowadays
we tend to rearrange holidays for our school and business
convenience—and we often want our holidays on Mondays so that we
have 3-day weekends. That's why the federal and many state
governments have moved the celebration of Washington's birthday to
the third Monday of February (although that date only ever falls
between Feb. 15 and Feb. 21, and so it always misses
Washington's actual birthday!). Even though many published calendars
refer to this holiday as Presidents' Day, its name is still
officially Washington's Birthday on the federal calendar.
State
governments often, but not always, follow holidays celebrated at the
federal level. There is a confusing array of state holidays honoring
Washington and Lincoln. Some states celebrate neither, some celebrate
only one, some celebrate both bundled together with all other
presidents, in Presidents' Day, and some celebrate both with two
3-day weekends, back to back! Alabama states that its Presidents' Day
commemorates the birthdays of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson
(although the latter was born in April!).
Strangest
of all, to me, is that the state of Indiana has moved its
commemoration of Lincoln's birthday to the day after Thanksgiving (in
November!), and the commemoration of Washington's birthday to a date
just before Christmas (in December!). Apparently Indiana government
officials wanted to lengthen Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday
periods without giving workers more paid holidays.
By
the way, to add to the confusion, some sources give February 11 as
Washington's birthday. That's because, when George Washington was
born, the American colonies used the Julian calendar. We now most
often give dates as they would have been under our modern Gregorian
calendar.
Did
you know...?
 |
| L.B.J. |
The
tallest U.S. presidents, at six feet four inches (193 cm), were
Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon B. Johnson. The shortest president, James
Madison, was five feet four inches (163 cm). George Washington was
just a smidge taller than current president Barack Obama (6 feet 1.5
inches, or 187 cm, and 6 feet 1 inch, or 185 cm, respectively).
Ohio
and Virginia have been the homes of the most presidents. (The count
depends on whether we count birthplace, major place of residence, or
residence when elected—but Ohio has produced 6 to 8 presidents,
and Virginia has produced 5 to 8.)
 |
| J.F.K. |
The
youngest U.S. president was Theodore Roosevelt, who became president
at age 42, when President McKinley was assassinated. The youngest
president to be elected to the office was John F. Kennedy, at age
43. The oldest president to assume office was Ronald Reagan, who was
almost 70 years old at his inauguration.
 |
| Ford |
The
longest-lived president was Gerald Ford, who lived to a ripe old age
of 93 years and 165 days. (Reagan lived to be 93, too!) Strangely,
two of the first three presidents died on the exact same day – and
it was the Fourth of July, the nation's birthday! That's right, John
Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826. (They were 90
and 85 years old when they died.)
The
presidents honored on Mount Rushmore are George Washington, Abraham
Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt. Many historians
rank these four in the top five U.S. presidents, with the addition
of Franklin D. Roosevelt (usually placed in position #3). Of course,
Mount Rushmore was planned and begun in 1927, before F.D.R. was
elected. (By the way, did you know that Mount Rushmore was
originally planned to depict each president from head to waist? Lack
of funding changed the plan!)
 |
F.D.R. doesn't
appear on
Mount Rushmore,
but has a wonderful
memorial in D.C. |
 |
Washington appeared
on this 1917 $20 bill. |
- The
presidents who appear on U.S. money include:
George
Washington (quarter and $1 bill)
Abraham
Lincoln (penny and $5 bill)
Thomas
Jefferson (nickel and the rare $2 bill)
Franklin
Roosevelt (dime)
Andrew
Jackson ($20 bill)
Ulysses
S. Grant ($50 bill)
John
F. Kennedy (half dollar)
Dwight
D. Eisenhower (silver dollar)
Some
large-denomination bills that are no longer produced include:
William
McKinley ($500 bill)
Grover
Cleveland ($1,000 bill)
James
Madison ($5,000 bill)
Woodrow
Wilson ($100,000 bill)
Now,
ALL of the presidents will be on golden dollar coins!
For
more on George Washington, check out this earlier post.
For example, did you know that George Washington was NOT America's
first president? That he was elected with 100% of the vote? (Twice!) That he is called the “Precedent President”?
Also
on this date:
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