I remember thinking of the President as just this side of a diety. He was a man of mythological proportions as were all the men who preceeded him. And he was always a man. And he was always white. And he was always Christian after a fashion. In grade school there were pictures of the presidents from George Washington to Dwight D Eisenhaur. Then they added John F Kennedy and then Lyndon Baynes Johnson and then reality for me started setting in with the election of Richard M Nixon. No, I supposed the first glimpse of reality for me came when JFK was shot. First, he was Catholic. Then, he was young with a beautiful wife and two little kids who treated the White House like, date I say it, a home! I knew then that presidents were not gods. They were mortal. They were not perfect. Some were not even role models. They were vulnerable to the crazy whims of madmen and zealous politicos or members of the press who in their zeal sought to expose their feet of clay. They were men, yea, mere mortals.
There was a time when presidents were accorded a lot more respect they tell me. But that was usually when they left office...and sometimes not until they were dead. Histroy tells us they were often in the fray, often criticizing and even publicly vilified. Why, a few of them were shot dead just because someone disagreed with what they stood for. Now you know that would not happen to "gods".
When I was in school there were separate days honoring George Washingtion, the Father of Our Country, (Feb 22) and Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emanicipator (Feb 12) because those were their actual birthdays. But because we needed more three day weekends and there were too many holidays in February, we consolidated them into the third Monday in February. I can remember hearing the tales of Lincoln growing up in Illinois, studying law by the light of the fireplace, splitting rails, becoming a lawyer, senator and eventually going to Washington DC and guiding the country through the Civil War on the 12th. Then on the 22nd Washington's stories were told: chopping down the cherry tree, crossing the Delaware, refusing to be made king of the fledging United States of America. Now it is President's Day in most places althought the offical federal holiday today is still called Washington's Birthday. And everyone celebrates by taking the day off and going to Vegas (or some other vacation venue or even a staycation at home).
Of course, what should we be doing on President's Day? Should there be a parade? A fireworks display? Lots of flag waving? Hot dogs and apple pie? Seems we don't do that either. I guess it is enough to remember. It is enough to take note of all the men (yes they were all men at this point) who took on one of the biggest jobs in the world as the leader of the free world. And if you look at their pictures before going into office and upon leaving office, it does leave its mark. They age tremendously. That is enough to deter me from pursuing high officeBut somehow they went on. There are five surviving presidents.
Today is their day. No matter their politics and no matter what you may think of them, they served their country and stepped up when many of us would not. Some say it was ego, some say ambition. Some say it was simple love of country and wanting to provide the best service they could. History will sort all that out. In the meantime, happy Presidents' Day and be sure to take a moment at least, to remember the office and what it means and finally those who took it on and did the best they could to fulfill a challenge beyond what would be expected of most mortal men and women.
For more information on the history of Presidents' Day:
For something humanizing about our beloved presidents:
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