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PRESIDENTS DAY - February 16, 2006
Presidents Day will be observed on Monday, Feb. 20. The
original version of the holiday was to commemorate George
Washington’s birthday in 1796, which was his last full year to
serve as president. By the early 19th century, traditional
celebrations included birthday ball, speeches and receptions by
prominent public figures and a lot of revelry in taverns across
the nation. Then came Abraham Lincoln, another much loved
president, whose birthday was on Feb. 12. The first recognized
observance of his birthday was in 1865, the year after his
assassination. Both houses of Congress gathered for a memorial
address. Even though it did not become a federal holiday, it did
become a legal holiday in several states. Legislation was passed
in 1968 that affected several federal holidays, including
Washington’s Birthday, which was shifted to the third Monday in
February. It was combined with Lincoln’s birthday and also
honors all presidents.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
Washington was born in 1732. He was not a great scholar, but
was outstanding in mathematics. His last two years in school
were devoted to engineering, geometry, trigonometry, and
surveying. At the age of 16, he was appointed public surveyor.
One authority said, he was “engaged to survey these wild
territories for a doubloon a day, camping out for months in the
forest, in peril from Indians and squatters.” The truth was that
the backwoodsmen and Indians all liked him very much and he
liked them. His surveying skills came in handy when in 1791, as
president, he determined the boundaries of the new “Federal
City” (Washington, D.C.) and the location of the public squares.
When he was 19, he was a major in one of the military
districts of Virginia, leading his men in early battles of the
French and Indian War. In 1755, he was an aide to Gen. Braddock
in the campaign against Fort Duquesne. He received four bullet
holes in his coat and had two horses shot under him, but came
out safely, the only aide alive.
Between the French and Indian War, and the Revolution, he was
able to settle down to farming and family life at Mt. Vernon.
In 1789, he was inaugurated as first president of the U.S.
He served in this capacity for eight years, with the welfare of
this country in his capable hands. He enjoyed two more years of
farm life before his death on Dec. 12, 1799. He caught cold
while making the rounds of the plantation on horseback. He knew
that he could not recover and his last words were, “I die hard,
but am not afraid to go. I believed from my first attack that I
would not sur-vive it. My breath cannot last long. I feel myself
going. I thank you for your attentions, but pray that you will
take no more trouble about me. Let me go off quietly. I cannot
last long.” He then instructed his secretary about his burial,
took his own pulse and quietly died as he lad lived, calm
capable and considerate of others.
Thomas Jefferson later wrote, “Washington was a wise, good
and great man. His integrity was most pure, his justice the most
inflexible I have ever known. He was incapable of fear, meeting
personal dangers with calm unconcern.”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Abraham Lincoln was known as a common man with little
education. In his own words he said, “There was nothing to
excite ambition for education.”
His mother died two years after they moved to Indiana, and a
year later, his father married Mrs. Sally Johnson, who was
described by Lincoln “as a fine lady who was the guide of my
life and taught me all I know about the Bible.”
When Lincoln was 21, the family moved again to Illinois,
where they built another home. He saw them settled there, but
left to set out on his own. He was hired to help take a boatload
of corn and pigs down to New Orleans. They stopped for a day in
New Salem and he liked the people of the town so much that he
settled there when returning from his trip. His public life
began as he held about every position that was available. He
also was company captain during the Black Hawk War.
In 1832, he started on the road to the White House. He was a
candidate for state legislature and was defeated the first time,
but then was elected for three terms. Lincoln began to study law
the year he was elected. He met Ann Rutledge, who died in 1835
during their engagement. In 1837, he became a lawyer and moved
to Springfield. In 1842, he married Mary Todd and they had four
sons. Only one lived to adult life.
In 1847, he was a member of the U.S. House of
Representatives, and in 1856 became identified with the newly
formed Republican Party. He ran for the U.S. Senate, but was
defeated by Stephen Douglas. The outstanding speeches that he
made in the famous debates with Douglas impressed the country
and he was nominated for the presidency in 1860. While
campaigning for president, people flocked to train stations to
see and hear him.
The last four years of his life were the years of the “War
between the States.” Lincoln left no doubt as to how he stood on
slavery. He said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
When he was elected, the South prepared for war, and within six
weeks, fired on Ft. Sumter.
He was chosen president for a second term and in his
inaugural address he spoke of his job of “bringing the country
together again in harmony.” Just six days after the end of the
war, his life came to an end when he was shot by John Wilkes
Booth. People across the nation paid tribute to him. He was
described by Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War in Lincoln’s
cabinet, as a man who belongs to the ages. The following words
are found at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.:
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness
in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on
to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to
care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow
and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just
and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Two different men with two different backgrounds, from two
different times in our history, left their impact on our nation.
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