President's Day is Monday, February 19th. We now celebrate all former presidents. We originally honored only George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, both whom had birthdays during the month of February, February 22nd and 12th, respectively. George Washington was the 1st and only president to be elected unanimously by the electoral college. He received all 69 of the votes. He was a first president with false teeth, and the first to appear on a postage stamp. He was our country's 1st president and was known as the father of our country. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican President and the first President to be assassinated. He was the first to support women's right to vote. There are four U.S. state capitals that are named after presidents. The president who have state capitals named after them are Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.
Episode 254: President's Day →
Once again, I would like to take my readers to that one room country school where I experienced many warm thoughts as a very young student of the four R's. As I stated in last week's column, I would often look at the wall, where one would see the pictures of two presidents. These two presidents, Abraham, Lincoln and George Washington, became my hero presidents. Our Pledge of Allegiance and respect for the flag was a part of the old country school. Oh yes, I did whisper in that one room school, and since this was against school rules, I would often find myself standing in the corner of the room near the bucket of water with a dipper and a row of library books on the shelf.