Presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky argued on Monday, Presidents’ Day, that the holiday shouldn’t be celebrated during a conversation on MSNBC, suggesting the actions of different presidents should be celebrated, but not the people themselves.
“It is a little bit silly. I mean, we have had some real duds, so I’m not sure we really want to be celebrating all presidents. And the tradition actually comes from celebrating birthdays, which is a celebration that we inherited from celebrating the king, and I’m just not sure that that’s exactly what we want. I think instead, it makes a lot more sense to celebrate actions,” Chervinsky, who is also the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library, said.
Presidents’ Day occurs on the third Monday of every February, and celebrates all US presidents, though it originally celebrated George Washington’s birthday, which was on Feb. 22. MSNBC host Ali Vitali asked Chervinsky to explain why she felt the holiday was “ridiculous.”
“Let’s celebrate Washington returning his command and ensuring that there wasn’t a military dictatorship. Let’s celebrate Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Things that they actually had control over as opposed to their birthday,” she added.
Vitali then brought up something Chervinsky said earlier in the show, “the idea that Trump posted something just over the weekend where he quoted Napoleon Bonaparte-esque saying, ‘He who saves his country does not violate any law.’”
“It feels like exactly the example of what you’re saying we should push against,” Vitali added.
Chervinsky agreed and said a president shouldn’t be celebrated just because they exist.
“I think if we think of a president as someone to celebrate just because they exist, which is what the king was, and that’s why they celebrated the king’s birthday, then you kind of – it does evolve into that argument that they can do no wrong,” Chervinsky continued.
Protests broke out across the country today over Trump’s policies, according to reports, including outside the Capitol in Washington, DC.
Vitali asked Chervinsky about the “star power” often needed to win the presidency.
“I think it’s worth acknowledging, like, really excellent skills. It’s worth respecting those things. But I think that if we see them as somehow other, it causes us to believe that we shouldn’t criticize, we shouldn’t analyze, we shouldn’t hold accountable,” Chervinksy said.
She concluded that presidents should be celebrated for specific actions and leadership, not just because they’re the person in power.
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