NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Mostly celebrated for its mattress sales, another “Presidents’ Day” has come and gone.
“Presidents’ Day” is a holiday in the United States celebrated on the third Monday of February to honor all persons who served in the office of president of the United States.
That would include Millard Fillmore.
Millard Fillmore was “the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853, the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Upstate New York, Fillmore was elected as the 12th vice president in 1848, and succeeded to the presidency in July 1850 upon the death of U.S. President Zachary Taylor.”
The federal holiday specifically honors George Washington, who led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolutionary War, presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and was the first president of the United States.
The day is a state holiday in most states, with official names including Washington’s Birthday, Presidents’ Day, President’s Day, Presidents Day, and Washington’s and Lincoln’s Birthday. The various states use 15 different names. Depending upon the specific law, the state holiday may officially celebrate Washington alone, Washington and Lincoln, or some other combination of U.S. presidents.
In New York State the holiday is officially known as Washington’s Birthday.
5 out of the 45 presidents of the U.S were born in New York: Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Donald Trump.
