The Calendar
When I was a young man in the 1940s and 1950s, we celebrated Feb. 12 as Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and Feb. 22 as George Washington’s day of birth. Somewhere along the way, we have scrunched (is that a word?) the two together.
It was only 85 years between the Revolutionary War of Independence and the national break-up of the Civil War between the States. During those years, a young and vibrant national feeling was formed. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France under Thomas Jefferson’s leadership doubled the size of the United States of America.
In 1859, Charles Darwin sailed on his ship, the Beagle, into the Galapagos Islands to view nature and report his revolutionary scientific findings to a new world.
We must place ourselves in Washington’s time and in his psyche to fully understand his greatness. He was a wealthy landowner in Mount Vernon, Virginia, who could have lived a quiet, comfortable life as an English subject. Instead, he took charge of the continental rag-tag army and fought against King George III and against the then-most powerful English Redcoats.
After many defeats and excessive hardships, Washington and his Colonial Army prevailed. At Philadelphia in 1789 a new nation came forth with its own new and intelligently formed Constitution as the United States (13) of America.
Abraham Lincoln chose a different path to greatness. A poor Kentucky farm boy (Kentucky was part of the Louisiana Purchase territory), he became a lawyer and eventually ran against Stephen Douglas for the senate and later, the presidency.
Their debates are still studied today. Slavery was one issue that was on the agenda. Lincoln won, and during his tenure, the U.S. acquired Alaska. When Fort Sumter in South Carolina was fired upon by rebellious troops, the Civil War between the States began. Lincoln stated unequivocally “The Union, it must be preserved.” He hired many inadequate generals before Ulysses S. Grant triumphed.
Unfortunately, Lincoln, “the Great Emancipator” was assassinated and didn’t live to accomplish the Reconstruction of the South. His vice president, Andrew Johnson, did not have Lincoln’s ability or his charisma. The Reconstruction would have been kinder and smarter under Abraham Lincoln.
For me, President’s Day dilutes the meaning and feelings for these two great Americans. Our first and sixteenth great presidents should each have a meaningful day of their own.
