Note: At the special request of the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda, Calif., the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reprints this seminal column by Otus the Head Cat that ran Feb. 26, 2000, and won the 2001 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Editorial Column Reporting.
Our divisive national nightmare continues, with America split into diametrically opposed camps.
Was Monday celebrated as Presidents’ Day, or George Washington’s Birthday? The debate rages.
The nation hasn’t seen such discord since the misguided and obsequious argued that the year 2000 ushered in the new millennium instead of 2001.
Legally, officially and even morally, Monday was George Washington’s Birthday (celebrated). However, vast indolent segments of society, turned ovine by the advertising industry, continued to refer to the holiday as the generic “Presidents’ Day” despite an act of Congress that keeps the original name that honors our first president.
It does not ameliorate the confusion when the current resident of the White House throws the not inconsequential power of his office behind the minions of nescience.
If you choose to believe former Arkansan and current leader of the Free World, President Bill Clinton, last Monday was “Presidents’ Day” (note the all-inclusive plural possessive), a day intended to honor, among a number of others, Clinton himself.
As plainly stated above, the third Monday in February is officially “George Washington’s Birthday.” Since its inception in 1968 and its expansion to a three-day holiday in 1971, it has been intended solely to celebrate Washington’s place in our history. Not Washington and Lincoln. Not anybody else.
Thus it was a brazen and egregious slap in the face of the duly elected Congress of the United States of America that Clinton issued his official“Presidential Proclamation of Presidents’ Day.” In doing so, he followed in the footsteps of disgraced former President Richard Nixon, who was the first president to be so shamefully self-serving with a similar proclamation in 1971.
Here is the salient portion of the Clinton proclamation as released by the White House:
Presidents’ Day 2000 I am pleased to join all Americans in observing Presidents’ Day. Today we salute the leadership and achievements of all those who have held America’s highest elected office, and we celebrate with special pride the rich legacies of Presidents Washington and Lincoln.
(Then come a couple of paragraphs where Clinton talks about how Washington founded the country and Lincoln freed the slaves. He then returns to the egocentric, chest-thumping part where he elevates himself to their level.)
It was within view of our national monuments to these two great leaders that thousands of our fellow Americans recently joined Hillary and me to welcome in the first moments of the 21st century.
Note Clinton’s continued misrepresentation of the millennium facts. He then finishes by patting himself on the back and throwing his presumed successor a bone.
“The era of unrivaled prosperity and peace during which I have had the good fortune to lead this country with Al Gore by my side affords us a singular opportunity to reaffirm the values of Washington and Lincoln that have shaped our national character for more than 200 years. Best wishes to all for a wonderful Presidents’ Day celebration.”
[Signed] - William J. Clinton
My pugnacious Head Cat staff of investigative researchers dug deep into the archives to uncover President Nixon’s proclamation of Feb. 21, 1971, when all this “Presidents’ Day” controversy began.
As with Clinton’s proclamation, Nixon’s was intended to sidestep tradition and the law and preserve for himself some modicum of respectability that history normally reserves for those who have actually accomplished something without disgracing the office.
Nixon said, in part: “My fellow Americans, it is with great pride that Pat, Tricia, Julie and I wish you the happiest of Presidents’ Days, the first such three-day holidays set aside to honor all presidents, even [pauses and chuckles] myself. Pat and I plan to celebrate at one of many fine Presidents’ Day sales, purchasing for her a good Republican cloth coat.”
History reveals it was that desperate grab for respectability that started Nixon down the slippery slope that eventually led to his resignation Aug. 9, 1974.
Nixon’s offense, like Clinton’s, was to attempt to co-op Washington’s birthday into a reaffirmation of his presidential legacy. A vigilant America must never allow such an abomination ever again.
Until next time, Kalaka reminds you that banks and federal offices will be closed Feb. 24 for Vice Presidents’ Day.
Disclaimer Fayetteville-born Otus the Head Cat’s award-winning column of humorous fabrication appears every Saturday. Email: mstorey@arkansasonline.com
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