RNC Chairman and Co-Chairman Sharon Day Message Commemorating Presidents Day

WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus and Co-Chairman Sharon Day released the following message commemorating Presidents Day:

 

“This Presidents Day, we pay tribute to the men who have served as America’s Commander-in-Chief for their leadership and their sacrifice,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “We honor especially the two pillars of the American presidency: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, whose birthdays we celebrate this month. Under George Washington’s command, our nation was born. Through Lincoln’s perseverance, our republic was saved.

 

“February is also the birth month of President Ronald Reagan, the conservative visionary who saved America from economic stagnation. Today, America is once again mired in a difficult economy. With families hurting and businesses struggling, it is time we embrace the principles of Ronald Reagan once again.”

 

“Reagan understood that a thriving free market offers opportunity to all Americans,” said RNC Co-Chairman Sharon Day. “He also understood the dangers of a heavy-handed federal government, famously observing that ‘government is not a solution to our problem; government is the problem.’

 

“When Americans go to the polls in November, they will be looking for a president who ensures government exists to preserve and protect freedom and opportunity. They will seek an individual who, like Lincoln and Washington, will serve selflessly and in the interests of all Americans. I’m confident that, like Reagan, our Republican candidate will do exactly that.”

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.

Observing President’s Day: Washington

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 that George Washington made for the United States.

George Washington was born to wealthy Virginia plantation owners. In his youth he grew close to the Fairfax family who helped him enter his career as a soldier in the Virginia militia.  Though his rash actions as a military surveyor helped spark the French and Indian War (known in Europe as the Seven Years’ War), his ability to learn, adapt, and lead soon paid off for the British Army and Colonial militias in battle.  After the war he retired to his plantation and was known as a skilled businessman (and his continually being ripped off by British corporations planted his seed of resentment against Great Britain).  His reputation as a military hero gave the Continental Congress confidence in his military leadership ability, landing him the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army when the Revolutionary War began.

When the idea of crowning George Washington became popular after the war, he retired from the military and enjoyed a private life rather than seek power.  However, as a statesman he presided over the Constitutional Convention, subscribing to the popular belief that the Articles of Confederation were too weak to be the law of the land.  During his tenure as the First President of the United States, he managed to uphold U.S. neutrality in the British-French conflicts and presided over a free market economy.  He promoted the use of the national government for improving infrastructure and opening the western frontier to the American people.  He also promoted nationalism, saying that the name of ‘American’ must override any local attachments.  Though he agreed with the programs of the Federalist Party, he never joined a political party, believing that political parties were the basis of civil strife and division.  He believed that no President should serve more than two terms, prompting British King George III to say, “If he twice gives up power, he is the greatest man alive.”  He did.  He passed away at the age of sixty-seven.  To this day he is known as the Father of Our Country.  In 1976 President Gerald Ford posthumously promoted Washington to six-star general so that no twentieth century five-star general would outrank the Father of Our Country.