Observing President’s Day: Lincoln

By Zach Foster

It’s no mystery that President’s Day is yet another symbolic American holiday degraded to becoming an excuse to sell cars, mattresses, and throw barbeques.  Many Americans can’t even grasp a rough idea of what the holiday represents.  This phenomenon of ignorance is not uncommon in today’s society.  Let us explore this holiday and the meaning behind it.

President’s Day was originally observed as George Washington’s birthday and became a federal holiday via an 1880 act of Congress.  It was celebrated on Washington’s actual birthday (February 22) until the mid twentieth century, when the observance of the holiday changed to the third Monday of February, making it easier for the country to rest and observe the holiday on a weekday, much like Memorial Day and Thanksgiving.  Over time, people also began to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday since he was also born in February (February 9).  Let us take a moment to observe the contributions theat Abraham Lincoln made for the United States.

Abraham Lincoln was born to a very poor Kentucky family.  Much of his education was self taught, and the few books he had around in his youth included the Holy Bible and Aesop’s Fables.  He moved to Illinois where he practiced law and eventually practiced politics.  His political tenure included several terms in the Illinois State Legislature, one term in Congress, and a failed bid for the Senate.  In 1832 he was elected to serve as an officer in the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War (part of the Indian Wars).  Over the years his popularity as a statesman and orator grew. 

He joined the fledgling Republican Party in 1856 and ended up becoming one of its leaders.  He was elected President in 1860, resulting in the secession of the Southern states.  Though opposed to slavery, he was prepared to allow it to continue if it would prevent the dissolution of the Union.  Lincoln led the United States through its greatest military, political, and moral crisis: the American Civil War.

During his tenure he also set the stage for the emancipation of Southern slaves and the eventual demise of the system of slavery in America.  Though still regarded as a controversial and unpopular figure by many Southerners today, Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction was minimally punitive and all-inclusive in rebuilding the country.  Unfortunately, he was murdered by John Wilkes Booth toward the close of the war.  His corrupt Vice President Andrew Johnson assumed the Presidency, and infighting between him and Congress led to the hard-line Radical Republicans imposing a highly punitive and exclusive Reconstruction, heightening postwar tensions and giving rise to corrupt black and pro-North militias, militant violent hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan, and the eventual institution of the Jim Crow system.  Though his plans for a harmonious rebuilding of America were shredded by radicals, Lincoln is remembered for his kindness, his courage, and his ability to lead.