Presidents’ Day

[David Lockmiller]

Nearly two dozen states officially recognize Presidents’ Day. More than a dozen others do not observe it at all. In Virginia, where Washington was born and lived for much of his life, it is simply known as George Washington Day. Some states, like Illinois, where Lincoln started his political career, and New York, where he delivered a powerful speech that helped launch his presidential campaign in 1860, give Lincoln and Washington their own holiday rather than lump them into one.

Other states chose their own adventure for various reasons.

Missouri celebrates the birthdays of three presidents on three different days — Washington, Lincoln and Harry S. Truman, who was born in Missouri on May 8, 1884. Kentucky has public holidays for the birthdays of Washington; Lincoln; Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy; and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

New York Times
By Remy Tumin
Feb. 19, 2023

Note: A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 20, 2023, Section A, Page 15 of the New York edition with the headline: Washington, Lincoln and Mattress Sales