Due to an error on my part, Rees’ fine piece on the first President of the United States is running today. My apologies. Victoria
February 22, 2012, is the 280th anniversary of the birth of George Washington in 1732. I believe George Washington, the “Father Of His [Our] Country,” to be the greatest of all Americans, whose enduring example of fidelity to God and Country should be known, remembered, and honored, by Americans of this and and future generations, as it was by his contemporaries in the generation of the Founding Fathers at the genesis of America.
Therefore, I respectfully urge support for the proposition that the holiday now known as “Presidents Day,” and observed on the third Monday of February, as a result of the “Uniform Monday Holiday Act” of 1971, be repealed, and the holiday known as “Washington’s Birthday” honoring George Washington be reinstated and observed on February 22, the actual date of his birth.
In support thereof, I respectfully submit for your consideration the following comments, and most importantly, the attached (below) February 22 “American Minute” of renown author and patriot William J. Federer, which provides information and evidence of who George Washington was, and what he believed, in Washington’s own words.
George Washington was the most admired American by the Americans of the Founding Generation who created the free, democratic republic of America: “First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen,” as Washington was described by Revolutionary War hero Henry (“Light Horse Harry”) Lee. Washington not only set an enduring example by his conduct when invested with the power of the presidency, but by walking away from power and returning home to Virginia as a private citizen after his second term, refusing offers that he be president for life. His act of walking away from power, stunned the worldin which the United States was then the only republic in a world of monarchs and potentates. He was hailed as a (then) modern “Cincinnatus,” the Roman general who walked away from imperial power when Rome ruled the world.
After his death on Dec. 14, 1799, George Washington was hailed in the western world as “the greatest man of his age.” Even Napoleon, who had no small estimation of his own greatness, deferred to Washington, saying (on Feb. 9, 1800) : “This great man fought against tyranny; he established the liberty of his country. His memory will always be dear to the French people, as it will be to all freemen of the two worlds.”
Americans once believed that. George Washington was the first American to be honored with a federal holiday. “Washington’s Birthday” was established by Act of Congress in 1879.
The “Washington’s Birthday” holiday was observed on the anniversary of Washington’s birthday, February 22, until adoption of the “Uniform Monday Holiday Act,” which became effective on Jan. 1, 1971. That Act effectively subordinated remembrance of the example of George Washington’s life, and maintaining or inculcating those virtues in the national character, especially of the young, for the higher purpose of insuring that federal employees would have nice three-day weekends.
“Washington’s Birthday” holiday was effectively abolished from national consciousness in the 1980’s, when the the holiday was renamed “President’s Day,” submerging America’s greatest president, George Washington, into an undifferentiated mass of competent men and con men, the good, the bad, the ugly, the avaricious, meretricious, and salacious, who have managed, often by hook and crook, to get themselves elected.
Excuse me for possible political incorrectness in stating that in my opinion, it is a very long road from George Washington to Barack Hussein Obama, and all down hill. It is the virtues, character, and example of George Washington which ought to be remembered.
Therefore, let us Americans of this generation demand that the “Washington’s Birthday” holiday be restored, and observed on February 22, the actual birth date of George Washington, no matter the lamentations of government bureaucrats and employees who may suffer the oppression of one less three-day weekend.
If what is written above does not convince you, please consider what is written below in Bill Federer’s “American Minute” honoring George Washington, America’s greatest American.
FOR GOD AND COUNTRY FOREVER; SURRENDER TO TYRANNY–NEVER!
REES LLOYD
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