Robert C. Byrd

February 14, 2008

News organizations seeking more information should contact Senator Byrd's Communications Office at (202) 224-3904.

Celebrating President's Day

On Monday, February 18, the United States will celebrate President's Day. President's Day takes on a particular significance this year, as the nation is actively involved in the selection process for a new president. It is heartening to see the level of interest and participation in all of the presidential campaign events and in the primaries and caucuses. It is a sign that Americans' faith in the basic processes of their government is still strong, even as a recent poll indicates that the public holds a very low opinion of the current president and of Congress. In a 1789 letter to Richard Price, Thomas Jefferson wrote that, AWhenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. Whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied upon to set them to rights.@ I believe we are witnessing the truth of Thomas Jefferson's observation.

As early as 1796, Americans were observing the birthday of our first, and still one of our greatest, presidents, George Washington. According to various old style calendars, George Washington was born on either February 11^th or February 22^nd, 1732. On whichever date people preferred, President Washington's birthday was feted with ABirthnight Balls,@ speeches, and receptions. Here in the Senate, one of our most enduring traditions is the annual reading of Washington's 1796 Farewell Address by a current member of the Senate. This practice began in 1862, and became an annual event in 1893. Beginning in 1900, the Senator who read the address then signed his or her name and perhaps wrote a brief remark in a book maintained by the Secretary of the Senate. For the historically curious, both Washington's Farewell Address and a selection of the remarks from the book can be found on the Senate's web site (www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/FarewellAddressBook.htm).

After the 1864 assassination of President Lincoln, another revered President who was also born in February, similar memorial observations sprang up around the nation. In 1865, both houses of Congress gathered for a memorial address. President Lincoln's birthday became a legal holiday in several states, although it did not become a federal holiday like President Washington=s. However, in 1968, legislation was enacted to simplify the federal holiday schedule. As a result, Washington's birthday observance was moved to the third Monday in February, regardless of whether or not that day was the 22^nd of February. Officially, this holiday is still known as Washington's Birthday, but it has become popularly known as President's Day to honor both Washington and Lincoln, as well as all who have served as president.

Why were President Washington and President Lincoln so widely and spontaneously revered by the public, even in the immediate aftermath of their deaths, before time had a chance to burnish their memories and fade their less enobling characteristics? Certainly, the great events that were shaped for the better by their decisions were a major factor. Both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln made a name for themselves as inspiring leaders of men and the nation during pivotal wars in our nation's history. Both demonstrated true patriotism, a deep love of the nation that was the prism through which they viewed all problems and made all decisions. Both men selflessly sacrificed their own personal lives to serve the nation throughout their lives.

In honor of President's Day, I urge everyone to listen to or read Washington's Farewell Address and apply its wisdom to the nation's current situation and to the decision each of us will make in November. A collaborative effort between George Washington and the authors of The Federalist Papers, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, Henry Cabot Lodge wrote of the Farewell Address that AYno man ever left a nobler political testament.@ In it, Washington supported the federal government as Aa main pillar in the edifice of your real independenceY@ warned against a party system that AYserves toYagitate the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarmsY@ and AYkindles the animosity of oneYagainst another.@ He stressed the importance of religion and morality, famously warned against the entanglements of permanent foreign alliances, cautioned against an over-powerful military establishment as AYinauspicious to libertyY@ and urged the nation to AYcherish public creditY@ by using it as little as possible. Only then could the nation avoid the accumulation of debt, because AYtowards the payments of debts there must be Revenue, that to have Revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, which are notYinconvenient and unpleasant.@ We cannot have our cake and eat it, too B tax cuts and deficit spending cannot occur simultaneously if the economy is to remain sound over the long run.

Washington's experience and wisdom may serve us well as the true litmus test to apply to our prospective 44^th president. Mr. President, I close with a poem by the author of The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819-1881) called AGod, Give Us Men!@ Penned before women had won the right to vote, it nonetheless resonates today and applies to anyone, man or woman, who would lead our nation.

God, Give Us Men!

God, give us men! A time like this demands

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;

Men whom the lust of office does not kill;

Men whom the spoils of office can not buy;

Men who possess opinions and a will;

Men who have honor; men who will not lie;

Men who can stand before a demagogue

And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!

Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog

In public duty, and in private thinking;

For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,

Their large professions and their little deeds,Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,

Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps.

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