This Monday, Americans will enjoy their annual celebration of Presidents Day, a vague commemoration of all things presidential, one might think.
Think again. Here are three things you might not have known about Presidents Day:
Technically, it’s still “Washington’s Birthday”
According to section 6103(a) of title 5 of the U.S. Code, this Monday commemorates “Washington’s Birthday,” not “Presidents Day.”
The name change coincided with a Congressional initiative to attach federal holidays to the weekend, thereby creating an uninterrupted, three-day stretch of leisure time.
The Uniform Monday Holiday Bill, which hit the voting floor in 1968, nudged “Washington’s Birthday” from a fixed date, February 22, to every “third Monday in February,” i.e. not Washington’s birthday. But the name stuck.
Presidents Day is a brilliant stroke of branding
The ever-shifting holiday also happened to dance around Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, which several states marked as a separate holiday on February 12. Retailers, eager to promote discounts on both days, seized on the name “Presidents Day” to lure in shoppers regardless of which president they might happen to be celebrating. Gradually the catch-all term fell into common use.
It’s also not quite a holiday
Calling it a “holiday” doesn’t make it so. Yesware, an email analytics firm, crunched the numbers on 23 million emails circulating through corporate inboxes over the course of one year. Their finding: Open and reply rates on Presidents Day exceeded other federal holidays, and even a typical workday.
This is partly a function of workers receiving fewer emails overall, making a quick scan through the inbox a bit easier. It also suggests that when it comes to federal holidays, Presidents Day is the least sacrosanct.
Bringing Color to Presidents Past
Col. Theodore Roosevelt with a dead elephant at Meru, Kenya.
The Siena Research Institute (SRI) at Siena College often releases complex expert rankings of all U.S. Presidents. In 2010, the SRI Survey Ranked Roosevelt the #2 President of All Time. Roosevelt took top marks in the survey's categories for 'Imagination,' 'Willingness to Take Risks', 'Court Appointments' and 'Intelligence.'Library of CongressCol. Theodore Roosevelt with a dead elephant at Meru, Kenya.Original Image by Kermit Roosevelt / Library of Congressc. 1908. Grover Cleveland, half-length portrait, seated at desk.
Ranked #20 in SRI Survey of U.S. Presidents.Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME / Original Image (c) The New York Herald Company / Library of Congressc. 1908. Grover Cleveland, half-length portrait, seated at desk.Original Image (c) The New York Herald Company / Library of CongressMarch 5, 1917. Woodrow Wilson and his wife Edith Bolling Wilson riding in the backseat of a carriage on their way to his second inauguration.
Ranked #8 in SRI survey of U.S. Presidents.Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME / Original Image National Photo Company Collection / Library of CongressMarch 5, 1917. Woodrow Wilson and his wife Edith Bolling Wilson riding in the backseat of a carriage on their way to his second inauguration. Original Image National Photo Company Collection / Library of CongressJune 5, 1944. General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the order of the day, "Full victory--nothing else" to paratroopers somewhere in England, just before they board their airplanes to participate in the first assault in the invasion of the continent of Europe.
Ranked #10 in SRI survey of U.S. Presidents.Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME / Original Image by Library of CongressJune 5, 1944. General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the order of the day, "Full victory--nothing else" to paratroopers somewhere in England, just before they board their airplanes to participate in the first assault in the invasion of the continent of Europe.Original Image by Library of Congressc. April 19, 1945. Harry Truman, half-length portrait, seated at desk, facing front, holding pencil.
Ranked #9 in SRI survey of U.S. Presidents.Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME / Original Image (c) Chase-Statler, Washington / Library of Congressc. April 19, 1945. Harry Truman, half-length portrait, seated at desk, facing front, holding pencil. Original Image (c) Chase-Statler, Washington / Library of Congressc. June 7, 1898. William McKinley, full length portrait, seated at desk, facing right.
Ranked #21 in SRI survey of U.S. Presidents.Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME / Original Image (c) Frances Benjamin Johnston / Library of Congressc. June 7, 1898. William McKinley, full length portrait, seated at desk, facing right.Original Image (c) Frances Benjamin Johnston / Library of CongressJune 12, 1971. President Richard Nixon standing in a crowd of people at daughter Tricia Nixon's wedding at the White House.
Ranked #30 in SRI survey of U.S. Presidents.Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME / Original Image by Warren K. Leffler / Library of CongressJune 12, 1971. President Richard Nixon standing in a crowd of people at daughter Tricia Nixon's wedding at the White House. Original Image by Warren K. Leffler / Library of CongressNov. 8, 1863. Formal portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
Ranked #3 in SRI survey of U.S. Presidents, Lincoln received highest marks in the 'Ability to Compromise' and 'Domestic Accomplishments' categories.Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME / Original image by Alexander Gardner / Library of CongressNov. 8, 1863. Formal portrait of Abraham Lincoln.Original image by Alexander Gardner / Library of CongressSeptember, 1955. Lyndon B. Johnson, half length portrait, left profile, looking out a window.
Ranked #16 in SRI Survey of U.S. Presidents, Johnson is rated #1 for his 'Relationship with Congress' but falls in last place for his 'Foreign Policy Accomplishments.'Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME / Original Image by Thomas J. O'Halloran / Library of CongressSeptember, 1955. Lyndon B. Johnson, half length portrait, left profile, looking out a window.Original Image by Thomas J. O'Halloran / Library of CongressSeptember 12, 1953. John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier on their wedding day.
Ranked #11 in SRI Survey of American Presidents, Kennedy is ranked 4th in 'Communication', 6th in 'Ability to Compromise', 6th in 'Executive Appointments' and 7th in 'Imagination'.Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME / Original Image by Toni Frissell / Library of CongressSeptember 12, 1953. John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier on their wedding day. Original Image by Toni Frissell / Library of CongressMarch 4, 1933. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover in a convertible automobile on their way to the U.S. Capitol for Roosevelt's inauguration.
FDR was ranked #1 on SRI's Survey of U.S. Presidents, holding the top spot in categories like 'Handling of the U.S. Economy,' 'Foreign Policy Accomplishments' and 'Party Leadership.'Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME / Original Image by Library of CongressMarch 4, 1933. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover in a convertible automobile on their way to the U.S. Capitol for Roosevelt's inauguration.
Library of CongressJune 11 or 12, 1864. General Ulysses S. Grant at City Point.
Ranked #26 in SRI Survey of American Presidents, Grant remained in the bottom five Presidents of the survey through the 1980s and 1990s before being bumped up the list.Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME / Original Image by Library of CongressJune 11 or 12, 1864. General Ulysses S. Grant at City Point.
Library of Congress
![Abraham Lincoln, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front. Date Created/Published: [photograph taken 1863 Nov. 8; printed later and c1900]. Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/presidents-past-14.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
