Posted by
Defend America on Friday, February 12, 2010 2:01:44 PM
It's Washington's Birthday, Not Presidents' Day
February
22 is the birthday of George Washington -- the man who, more than any
other, made possible our republican form of government.
The
third Monday in February has come to be known, wrongly, as President's
Day. America's political leaders should take this occasion to remember
Washington's deeds, recollect his advice, and again call the holiday
celebrating him by its legal name: Washington's Birthday.
Washington
biographer James Flexner called him the "indispensable man" of the
American Founding. Without Washington, America would never have won our
War of Independence. He played the central role in the Constitutional
Convention and set the precedents that define what it means to be a
constitutional executive: strong and energetic, aware of the limits of
authority but guarding the prerogatives of office.
Washington
not only rejected offers to make him king, but was one of the first
leaders in world history to relinquish power voluntarily. His peaceful
transfer of the presidency to John Adams in 1797 inaugurated one of
America's greatest democratic traditions.
http://www.heritage.org/press/commentary/ed022409b.cfm