The Act was designed to increase the number of long weekends for federal employees, a favorite goal of the travel industry.[2] Veterans Day was removed from this list of "always-on-Monday" holidays when it was moved back to its traditional date of November 11, by act of Congress in 1975,[3] effective 1978.
This Act did not officially change the name of Washington's Birthday to "Presidents Day", nor did it combine Washington's Birthday with Lincoln's Birthday, despite suggestions that those two changes be made.[4] Many U.S. states have adopted some version of the "Presidents Day" name. The perception that the name was changed stems from the fact that the act placed federal observance of Washington's Birthday in the week of February 15 to 21 and, since that week always falls between Lincoln's birthday (February 12) and Washington's (February 22), but never includes either date, popular references have given rise to the title, which recognizes both Presidents.[1][2] As of 1998,[update] a dozen U.S. states officially refer to the holiday as "Presidents' Day."[4] The Lincoln's Birthday holiday with very limited exceptions is no longer observed at all, at least on its actual date, though some states combine it with Washington's Birthday.
Though the holiday was not in existence at the time, Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, which was established in 1983 and first observed in 1986, is celebrated on the third Monday in January, which falls on January 15–21, instead of King's actual birth date, January 15, for the same reasons.[5]
Effects
The Monday holiday dates this act established were:
^ abAn Act to provide for uniform annual observances of certain legal public holidays on Mondays, and for other purposes, Pub. L.90–363, 82 Stat.250, enacted June 28, 1968.
^An Act to redesignate November 11 of each year as Veterans Day and to make such day a legal public holiday., Pub. L.94–97, 89 Stat.479, enacted September 18, 1975.
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