Presidents' Day in the US
2024-02-19
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1The third Monday of February is known as Presidents' Day in the United States.
2For nearly 100 years, America honored its first president, George Washington, on February 22.
3That was his birthday.
4But the date was not a national holiday until 1968.
5That year, the U.S. Congress passed a measure known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.
6The measure meant that some public holidays would always fall on a Monday.
7Today, the country honors its first president on the third Monday in February -- and not on Washington's real birthday.
8The holiday is now commonly called Presidents' Day. Many say it also honors Abraham Lincoln's birthday.
9The nation's 16th president was born on February 12.
10The federal government, however, still recognizes the holiday as "Washington's Birthday."
11The Uniform Monday Holiday Act gives workers a three-day weekend.
12It also gives shops and marketers a chance to have special Presidents' Day sales.
13In January of 2021, Joe Biden made history when he took the oath of office as the 46th president of the United States.
14At 78 years old, he became the oldest elected president.
15The man he beat was the previous record holder, Donald J. Trump.
16He took office at the age of 70 in 2017.
17Biden and Trump are leading candidates for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations for the 2024 presidential race.
18They will likely face each other again later this year for the presidency.
19As the first billionaire president, Trump replaced John F. Kennedy, the 35th president, as the richest man to serve as president.
20Kennedy still holds the record for the youngest person to be elected president.
21He was 43 when he took office. Kennedy is also the youngest president to die in office.
22He was assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, Texas.
23He was 46 years old.
24Another presidential assassination put the youngest person in the office of the president.
25In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt, then the vice president, became president at the age of 42.
26He took office after William McKinley, the 25th president, was shot and killed in Buffalo, New York.
27The first president to die in office, though, was William Henry Harrison.
28The country's ninth president only served 32 days, the shortest time of any president.
29Another Roosevelt holds the record for the longest time in office.
30Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd president.
31He held office for 4,422 days.
32After his death, the 22nd Amendment was passed.
33It limited a person to two four-year terms as president.
34Most Americans know that the two Roosevelts were related.
35But they may not know exactly how they were related. Here it goes:
36Franklin Roosevelt's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt was also his fifth cousin once removed.
37And Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president, was Eleanor's uncle.
38That makes the two presidents distant relatives.
39But they were not the first relatives to both serve as president.
40That title belongs to the Adamses.
41John Adams was America's second president.
42His son, John Quincy Adams was elected as the nation's sixth president.
43The Bushes are the other father-son presidential pair.
44George Herbert Walker Bush was elected as the 41st president.
45His son, George W. Bush, was the country's 43rd president.
46Not everyone can run for president.
47The U.S. Constitution says a person must be at least 35 years old.
48A person must also have lived "within the United States" for at least 14 years. And they must be a "natural-born citizen."
49But the meaning of "natural-born citizen" is not exactly clear.
50People read the rules in different ways.
51By some reasoning, the first "natural-born" American president was not George Washington or John Adams.
52It was Martin Van Buren, the eighth president.
53He was born in 1782, six years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
54All seven presidents before Van Buren, and William Henry Harrison, the 9th president, technically were not "natural-born" citizens.
55They were born before 1776 when the American states were still British colonies.
56I'm Ashley Thompson.
1The third Monday of February is known as Presidents' Day in the United States. For nearly 100 years, America honored its first president, George Washington, on February 22. That was his birthday. But the date was not a national holiday until 1968. 2That year, the U.S. Congress passed a measure known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The measure meant that some public holidays would always fall on a Monday. Today, the country honors its first president on the third Monday in February -- and not on Washington's real birthday. 3The holiday is now commonly called Presidents' Day. Many say it also honors Abraham Lincoln's birthday. The nation's 16th president was born on February 12. 4The federal government, however, still recognizes the holiday as "Washington's Birthday." 5The Uniform Monday Holiday Act gives workers a three-day weekend. It also gives shops and marketers a chance to have special Presidents' Day sales. 6Presidential facts and 'firsts' 7In January of 2021, Joe Biden made history when he took the oath of office as the 46th president of the United States. At 78 years old, he became the oldest elected president. The man he beat was the previous record holder, Donald J. Trump. He took office at the age of 70 in 2017. 8Biden and Trump are leading candidates for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations for the 2024 presidential race. They will likely face each other again later this year for the presidency. 9As the first billionaire president, Trump replaced John F. Kennedy, the 35th president, as the richest man to serve as president. 10Kennedy still holds the record for the youngest person to be elected president. He was 43 when he took office. Kennedy is also the youngest president to die in office. He was assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, Texas. He was 46 years old. 11Another presidential assassination put the youngest person in the office of the president. In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt, then the vice president, became president at the age of 42. He took office after William McKinley, the 25th president, was shot and killed in Buffalo, New York. 12The first president to die in office, though, was William Henry Harrison. The country's ninth president only served 32 days, the shortest time of any president. 13Another Roosevelt holds the record for the longest time in office. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd president. He held office for 4,422 days. After his death, the 22nd Amendment was passed. It limited a person to two four-year terms as president. 14Presidential relatives 15Most Americans know that the two Roosevelts were related. But they may not know exactly how they were related. Here it goes: 16Franklin Roosevelt's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt was also his fifth cousin once removed. And Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president, was Eleanor's uncle. That makes the two presidents distant relatives. 17But they were not the first relatives to both serve as president. That title belongs to the Adamses. John Adams was America's second president. His son, John Quincy Adams was elected as the nation's sixth president. 18The Bushes are the other father-son presidential pair. George Herbert Walker Bush was elected as the 41st president. His son, George W. Bush, was the country's 43rd president. 19Not everyone can run for president. 20The U.S. Constitution says a person must be at least 35 years old. A person must also have lived "within the United States" for at least 14 years. And they must be a "natural-born citizen." 21But the meaning of "natural-born citizen" is not exactly clear. People read the rules in different ways. 22By some reasoning, the first "natural-born" American president was not George Washington or John Adams. It was Martin Van Buren, the eighth president. He was born in 1782, six years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 23All seven presidents before Van Buren, and William Henry Harrison, the 9th president, technically were not "natural-born" citizens. They were born before 1776 when the American states were still British colonies. 24I'm Ashley Thompson. 25Hai Do wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 26_____________________________________________ 27Words in This Story 28uniform - n. staying the same 29cousin - n. a child of your uncle or aunt 30assassinated. - v. killed usually for political reasons 31distant - adj. used to describe a relative who is not closely related 32pair - n. two people who are related in some way or who do something together 33We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.