Washington's Birthday (2026)
The third Monday in February is here, and with it comes a flood of advertisements for a holiday that does not exist. While the public at large has been conditioned to use a generic, catch-all name for this day, a look at the federal calendar or the United States Code reveals the truth. Under section 6103(a) of title 5 , the holiday is, and always has been, Washington's Birthday . The irony is that on the day we are supposed to remember George Washington -- the very first person whose birthday was set aside as a national holiday -- everyone seems to be forgetting him. We have allowed the specific legacy of the "Father of His Country" to be obscured. While the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved the date of the observation in 1971, it did not change the name. The Office of Personnel Management and the National Archives both confirm the legal title remains unchanged. The respect due to George Washington should be singular. He was the indispensable man, yet today, finding a...
