Presidents' Day (Washington's Birthday)

Presidents’ Day is the everyday name for Washington’s Birthday, the federal holiday held on the third Monday in February. It honors George Washington, born February 22, 1732. Congress first made his birthday a holiday in 1879, and since 1971 it has been a Monday holiday that falls between February 15 and 21, which means it can never land on Washington’s actual birthday.

Washington’s Birthday: The Official Name

Federal law has never renamed the holiday. The list of legal public holidays in Title 5 of the US Code still reads “Washington’s Birthday, the third Monday in February,” and the Office of Personnel Management says its policy is to use the names designated in law.

That makes Presidents’ Day a popular label rather than a legal one, at least for the federal government. A Congressional Research Service report on federal holidays describes the belief that Congress renamed the day as a common misconception.

Washington’s Birthday also has a distinction no other federal holiday shares. It was the first federal holiday created to honor the birthday of an individual. Only one other American has a federal holiday of that kind: Martin Luther King Jr., whose holiday was signed into law in 1983.

Why Washington Has Two Birthdays

Washington was born in Virginia when Britain and its colonies still used the Julian calendar. Under that calendar, his birth was recorded as February 11, 1731.

Two separate changes explain the different dates, and both came from Britain’s Calendar (New Style) Act of 1750:

1. The day of the month. The Julian calendar had drifted 11 days behind the Gregorian one. To catch up, the act made September 2, 1752, the last day before September 14. Adding those 11 days turns February 11 into February 22.
2. The year number. Before 1752, the English legal year began on March 25, not January 1. A baby born in February was therefore still in “1731” under the old reckoning, even though the same day belongs to 1732 when years start on January 1.

Washington adopted the new-style date, and February 22 became the birthday Americans celebrated.

The history of the Gregorian calendar explains the switch, and why so many colonial dates have an Old Style and a New Style version.

Presidents’ Day History: From 1879 to the Monday Holiday

Americans celebrated Washington’s birthday long before it became a legal holiday. Federal recognition came in stages:

• January 31, 1879: President Rutherford B. Hayes signed a bill making February 22 a holiday. It took effect in 1880 and covered federal workers in the District of Columbia.
• January 6, 1885: Congress extended holiday pay to government workers “on duty at Washington, or elsewhere in the United States.” The list covered January 1, February 22, July 4, December 25 and proclaimed thanksgiving days, and reached federal offices in all 38 states of the time.
• June 28, 1968: The Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day and Veterans Day to Mondays and added Columbus Day.
• 1971: The Monday rule took effect, and Washington’s Birthday moved to the third Monday in February.

The 1968 debate shaped the holiday as we know it. According to the National Archives’ Prologue magazine, Rep. Robert McClory of Illinois proposed renaming the day President’s Day during the committee process. The idea was dropped, in part because members felt that not every president was held in the same regard as Washington. An amendment from Rep. Richard Poff to keep the holiday on February 22 also failed, 59 to 67.

How “Presidents’ Day” Got Its Name

The new name came largely from outside Congress. After 1971 the Monday holiday fell within days of Abraham Lincoln’s February 12 birthday, which had never been a federal holiday. Local advertisers began combining the two birthdays into a single “President’s Day” for sales, and by the mid-1980s the term was appearing in Washington Post advertisements.

Some states moved in the same direction. Texas had renamed its state holiday by 1971, and over the following decades other states adopted their own versions. The spelling still varies: Presidents’ Day, President’s Day and Presidents Day all appear in state law.

Some state names honor different people:

State	Name of the holiday
Alabama	George Washington/Thomas Jefferson Birthday
Arizona	Lincoln/Washington Presidents’ Day
Arkansas	George Washington’s Birthday and Daisy Bates Day
Colorado and Ohio	Washington-Lincoln Day
Virginia	George Washington Day

When Is Presidents’ Day 2027? How the Date Is Set

The rule is the third Monday in February. The first Monday of February can fall from February 1 to 7, so the third Monday always lands from February 15 to 21.

Two quick examples show how it works. February 1, 2027, is a Monday, so the Mondays run February 1, 8 and 15, and the holiday is February 15. In 2028, February 1 is a Tuesday, the first Monday is February 7, and the third is February 21.

Year	Washington’s Birthday	Days before February 22
2026	Monday, February 16	6
2027	Monday, February 15	7
2028	Monday, February 21	1

Presidents’ Day 2027 falls on February 15, the earliest possible date. In 2028 it comes on February 21, as close as the holiday can get to Washington’s birthday. The 2027 calendar shows the date in context, and the table below this article lists every year through 2035.

Because the holiday is defined as a Monday, the federal Saturday and Sunday substitution rule never applies. The federal holidays guide covers how observed days work for fixed-date holidays like Independence Day.

How Americans Celebrate Washington’s Birthday

One official tradition belongs to the US Senate. Its custom of reading Washington’s Farewell Address aloud dates to 1862, during the Civil War, when citizens asked for the address to be read on his birthday. The Senate still reads it each year around the holiday.

Alexandria, Virginia, Washington’s adopted hometown, holds events through February, including a parade it bills as the nation’s longest-running and largest George Washington Birthday parade. Cherry pie is traditionally associated with the day, a nod to the legend of young Washington and the cherry tree.

For many shoppers, the holiday is best known for sales. Retailers often use the long weekend for discounts on large items such as appliances, furniture and mattresses. Public schools set their own calendars, so the day is a holiday in some districts and a school day in others.

How the Holiday Has Changed Over Time

The holiday began as a fixed celebration of one man’s birthday on February 22. The 1968 law kept Washington’s name but moved the date to a Monday, and that one change opened the door to a broader, informal holiday honoring presidents in general.

That change matters when you date an old record. A letter, school notice or newspaper ad from before 1971 that mentions the Washington’s Birthday holiday points to February 22, whatever weekday it fell on. From 1971 onward, the same phrase means a Monday between February 15 and 21, so check the year’s calendar before assuming the date. After 2028, the next time the holiday falls on February 21 is 2033.

Today the same Monday carries different names depending on who is speaking: Washington’s Birthday on federal schedules, Presidents’ Day on many calendars and in stores, and a list of state-specific names in between. The federal date rule has stayed the same since February 15, 1971.