GILPIN COUNTY — When I was in elementary school, during the month of February my classmates and I would decorate our Valentine boxes. There were 13 kids in my class, and we always had a fun Valentine's party with games and food and then we were able to put a greeting in each of our classmates’ boxes.
As soon as Valentine’s Day was over, pictures of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln would appear in the classroom. A poster of all the U.S. Presidents would be hung up. The poster would end with Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan.
We would color pictures of cherry trees and log cabins. The cherry trees played into the myth of Washington chopping down a tree as a boy. The log cabins told us that Lincoln rose from a boy on the Frontier to the great halls in Washington D.C.
I am sure these are the years when I learned George Washington was a great hero from the Revolutionary War and Abraham Lincoln was known as the Great Emancipator, leaders we are to be proud of and recognize as great Presidents for our country. Presidents are to be persons of integrity and be a moral compass for the people—honest, hardworking, and full of integrity.
Celebrating President’s Day started as celebrating George Washington’s birthday. It was a day to remember our first elected president, the great general who helped win our independence. In the 1960s, the federal government wanted predictable three-day weekends for federal workers. The three-day weekend in February was intentionally placed between the birthdays of Presidents Washington and Lincoln.
It came to be called President’s Day, with stores capitalizing on the holiday as a time to have sales.
We might be getting a good deal on a mattress, couch, TV, or a car on President’s Day, but I do not think we should forget the reason for President’s Day. I believe we can do a much better job than coloring log cabins and cherry trees.
Something I should have learned in elementary school, but am fortunate enough to have wise parents who I learned from, is that President Washington along with the majority of the first Presidents (excluding John Adams and John Quincy Adams) were slave owners. One could try to justify their actions in different ways, but is it ever morally right to buy, sell, or abuse another human being?
I learned as a young adult that Lincoln authorized the largest mass hanging in U.S. history. During the Civil War, 38 Dakota men were hanged in front of thousands of people in Mankato, Minnesota, on December 26, 1862. The men were trying to find food for their starving families because the U.S. broke yet another treaty that said they would pay the Dakota for land with food and money.
These are actions coming from Presidents we hold in high regard. We visit their monuments, homes, and graves. We memorize their speeches. Why do we erase parts of U.S. history that are uncomfortable?
We expect a president to be our country’s moral compass. A leader who has integrity, shows up for the people, makes wise foreign and domestic decisions for the betterment of all, and without humiliation and degradation of anyone.
When you study the U.S. Presidents or go on a historical tour of their homes seek the truth. Watergate, Mulberry Row at Jefferson’s Monticello, Reconciliation Park in Mankato, Minnesota, are places and topics to learn about. You can also learn some lighter subjects about presidents like the fact that Reagan loved jelly beans, Carter was a peanut farmer (and was a great humanitarian in his post-presidency and lived to be 100 years old), and Barack Obama loves to eat broccoli.
February is a month where we celebrate love for each other and remember the leaders of the United States. Let’s love our country and all the people so much that we are willing to look at the positives as well as the scars and prickles—and learn. Learn about reconciliation, learn about different perspectives that have been silenced.
Eating a cherry pie is yummy. Showing dignity and empathy to your neighbor is part of our moral compass.
