Today as many of you already know is President’s Day. Back in 1971 this day was created to honor our two February born Presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Arguably both men were two of our more critically important Presidents. Washington brought respect, dignity and legitimacy to the Chief Executive of the United States. Lincoln served as our Nation’s leader in one of it’s most critical moments, the Civil War. It is both necessary and proper that our Nation should honor their lives and their legacies today.
However, maybe it is time as well to honor all Presidents on Presidents Day. Each of them served our nation at an important time and each brought a unique characteristic to the Presidency. From Theodore Roosevelt as our youngest President ever to John Adams who explemified the true nature of the Presidency after George Washington. Or what about Grover Cleveland who was the only man to serve our nation as President in two non-consecutive terms? Maybe Franklin Roosevelt who served in the Presidency longer than anyone. William Henry Harrison holds the honor of shortest Presidency at 32 days. Martin van Buren was the first non Anglo to be President; he was of Dutch ancestry. John Kennedy was our first and only Catholic to be President. Richard Nixon became the first man to resign from office. Andrew Johnson became the first and second President to be impeached. Thomas Jefferson helped grow our nation by purchasing the Louisianna territory from the French. James Madison was the shortest man ever elected President, and the last President to serve in the Executive Mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. before it became known as the “White House.” John Quincy Adams was the first son of a former President elected to the highest office. George W. Bush broke a trend when he became the first member of America’s “father/son” Presidents to serve more than one term. Thomas Jefferson was the first man elected President by the House of Representatives. John Tyler was the first Vice-President to succeed to the Presidency upon the death of the President; he created a controversy at the time as many believed the Vice-President should only be Acting President until a general election could be held. William Howard Taft was both the fattest man to be President, and also the only President to go from the Oval Office to the Supreme Court bench as Chief Justice of the United States. He and John Kennedy are to this date the only men buried in Arlington National Cemetary who also served as President of the United States. And of course Barack Obama became the first man elected to the office to not be of full European lineage. Ronald Regan became our first actor turned President. Harry Truman was the last President to not have a college degree and was the first since 1897. Woodrow Wilson was the only President with a PhD, more importantly our only Political Scientist as well.
Each President has brought a unique character to the Office. While we should honor George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, maybe it is time that we honor all of our Nation’s Presidents.
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