Presidents Day : Why you should stop calling today

Presidents Day : Why you should stop calling today

Presidents' Day. This holiday, which dates to 1971, originally was meant to celebrate the birthdays of George Washington (Feb. 22) and Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12) but it's also meant to honor all presidents. You'll learn lots from visiting the 13 presidential libraries. Forty-four presidents have been installed in office, but there are only 43 people who have been president. Why? Take the quiz below and find out. To what party did John Quincy Adams, the sixth president, belong?  Extra credit: Who was his father and when was he president?

• Name another father-son presidential pair.
• Who were the vice presidents of that father-son presidential pair in Question 4?
• Who was the first president to die in office?
• Who was the last president born under British rule?
• Whose grandson became president of the United States four dozen years after he was president?
• What president and his wife were Stanford graduates?
• Which president graduated in 1809 from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania?
• What president refused renomination in 1880 and thus served only one term?
• Who was elected president after Rutherford Hayes?
• How long did James Garfield remain in office?
• Who served as James Garfield’s secretary of War?
• What president suffered what was then called Bright’s disease?
• Who is the only president to serve two terms that weren’t consecutive?
• Who was the last Civil War general to serve as president?

It’s a myth, like the story about George Washington chopping down a cherry tree and throwing it across the Potomac at Abe Lincoln. It is Presidents' Day in the popular mind. It just isn't Presidents' Day in US law.

Presidents’ Day: five facts you didn’t know about George Washington

Let's look at the record: Washington’s Birthday has been a federal holiday since 1885. For more than 80 years it was celebrated on Washington’s actual birthday, Feb. 22.

Early drafts of this law did indeed change Washington’s Birthday to Presidents’ Day.This name change was pushed in particular by one of the bill's main proponents, Rep. Robert McClory. As a Republican from Illinois, McClory was interested in stretching the holiday to honor Abraham Lincoln.

It says nothing about "Presidents' Day". It lists “Washington’s Birthday,” with an explanation. As OPM notes, some states have gone the Presidents’ Day route. Localities hold Presidents’ Day parades, and many retailers have Presidents’ Day sales, too – perhaps they believe their fliers look better with cartoons of numerous presidents.

On Feb. 20 we’ll be celebrating all things George Washington. How? RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A winter storm that dumped several inches of snow across parts of the South, causing power outages, slippery roads and numerous accidents during the Presidents Day holiday weekend, moved out to sea Monday.

The storm brought as much as 9 inches of snow to some areas on Sunday as it powered its way from Kentucky and Tennessee to West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. The storm system was expected to push off the coast early Monday, with the nation's capital getting only snow flurries, according to the National Weather Service.

In Virginia, the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 were shut down following a two-vehicle crash that critically injured one man, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

The weather service has issued a winter weather advisory for the Raleigh-Durham area until 9 a.m. Monday. Wet snow also downed power lines. Appalachian Power was reporting that 52,000 customers were without power Sunday night in central and southern Virginia, as well as in West Virginia. Kentucky Power said 23,000 households were without power Sunday night.

Nick Fillo, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service's Blacksburg, Va., office, said 5 to 8 inches of snow fell in the Blue Ridge Mountains, while about 3 to 6 inches fell on that state's Piedmont region.

“I’ve always liked to read, and the Sandburg set is from my father,” Adam told me.

Abraham Lincoln: 15 favorite quotes on his birthday

The poet comes through in many of the passages from Sandburg’s "Lincoln," which resonates with hymn-like clarity. Here’s Sandburg on the death of Lincoln’s mother:

Thanks to Sandburg and his successors, we can connect with the lives of our presidents on Presidents Day, and every other day of the year.