Political Desk

Commentary
By CASSIE SOLLARS
Of the News-Register

Presidents Day is probably the least celebrated legal holiday in the United States - unless one is employed by a bank or the government. Students and teachers have the day off, too, of course.

And there are always those great Presidents Day sales - as if all those dead presidents could care a whit. After all, I’m sure George Washington and Abraham Lincoln wanted to be remembered with a shoe sale at the local department store.

But let’s look at some history before we get too serious.

When I was in elementary school back in North Dakota - and yes, that was a long time ago - February was a great break in the long cold winter. Not only did we have Valentine’s Day, when we skittered about the classroom, depositing penny valentines in each students’ homemade valentine boxes, but on Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays, we cut their silhouettes out of black paper and talked about what they each meant to our country.

We learned about the times in which they grew up and the experiences that inspired them to reach for the highest office in the land. Well, at least as much as we could understand about that sort of thing in grade school.

I still remember the story that George Washington chopped down the cherry tree (and didn’t lie about it), and that Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin with a dirt floor.

Lincoln’s birthday is actually Feb. 12; Washington’s is Feb. 22, and it was his birthday that was the official holiday in the District of Columbia beginning in 1880. In 1885, it was expanded to cover all federal offices.

The holiday was renamed Presidents Day in 1971 and was moved to the third Monday in February. That’s a handy government rule - moving holidays to accommodate a three-day weekend. That’s helpful when folks want to honor their elected leaders around a fireplace in a bar at a ski lodge.

Not all states are inclusive in celebrating Presidents Day, however. In Massachusetts, for instance, the law requires the state to issue a proclamation honoring each president who was born in their great state - John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John Kennedy (see a pattern here?) and because he spent so much of his political career there, Calvin Coolidge. Silent Cal - now there’s a presidential dynamo.

In New Mexico, Presidents Day is a government holiday celebrated on the Friday after Thanksgiving - gives new meaning to the term “turkey,” doesn’t it? Well, at least for the last seven years.

In researching information for this piece, I came across other interesting bits of presidential trivia.

Eight presidents were born British subjects: Washington, J. Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J.Q. Adams, Jackson and W. Harrison.

Nine presidents never attended college: Washington, Jackson, Van Buren, Taylor, Fillmore, Lincoln, A. Johnson, Cleveland and Truman.

The most common religious affiliation among presidents has been Episcopalian, followed by Presbyterian.

The ancestry of all 43 presidents is limited to the following seven heritages or some combination thereof: Dutch, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Swiss or German.

The oldest elected president was Reagan at 69; the youngest was Kennedy at 43. However, Theodore Roose-velt assumed the presidency at 42 after McKinley was assassinated.

Twenty-six presidents were lawyers; 12 were generals.

Nine years after leaving the presidency, William Howard Taft was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court. He was so pleased with his career change that he later wrote, “I don’t remember that I was ever president.”

Fast-forward to the current day and we have to ask: How many past presidents could be elected with the intense scrutiny given to modern candidates?

Of course, there are the relatively harmless presidential secrets. According to Cormac O’Brien, author of “Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents,” Chester A. Arthur was a real clothes hog. He owned more than 80 pair of pants.

Warren G. Harding once gambled and lost a box of priceless White House china in a poker game.

John Adams loved swimming in the nude. Who knew?

Again, with more serious questions. Would this country have elected Thomas Jefferson today, knowing that he had owned slaves? Or that he fathered children with one of his slaves, Sally Hemmings?

Would voters have elected Abraham Lincoln if they knew he was likely an atheist?

During World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower is said to have had an affair with his driver, Kay Summersby. If known, would that have made a difference in his election?

Numerous presidents, including Franklin Roosevelt and Jack Kennedy, had affairs. How might that have played out in modern campaigns?

Speaking of FDR, would we elect a wheelchair-bound president today? One certainly hopes the handicap wouldn’t prevent us from electing a qualified candidate.

Each of these presidents played crucial roles in our country’s history. Have we become so judgmental of our candidates’ private lives that we have lost sight of the contribution they might make to our society and to our future?

Certainly, we don’t make the argument that we should ignore character flaws. But in some ways, we have excluded from our possible pool of leaders the very people who could lead us effectively.

It’s difficult even locally to find qualified candidates to run for county and state offices. Campaigning is a grueling - and expensive - slog, and campaign seasons are getting longer every year.

Whether you are one of the lucky ones who have Monday off or not, take time to honor those who have held the highest office in our land. Sure, we’ve had some poor national leaders in our country’s history, but more often than not, we’ve been led well.

So sit back and have a piece of cherry pie. Happy Presidents Day.