On Monday, people across the nation will celebrate Presidents Day, a day meant to honor founding father George Washington as well as the other presidents who have served the country since his term in office.
While honoring men such as Washington and Abraham Lincoln seems natural, the notion of a federal holiday honoring more recent commander in chiefs seems laughable to modern America. The reasons for this are many.
As the country was in its infancy and adolescence, the causes for which were fought seemed grand and noble — freedom and equality, when framed correctly, are causes just about everyone can get behind. As strides were made in these areas, however, the mission of subsequent presidents became less clear. This made it not only more difficult to get the total support but also caused a certain amount of fracturing within the American populace. Whereas Americans were able to put aside their differences and stand in unison for the greater good, when the good became less great, so did its support. And so did the American people’s opinion of the man representing these ideas and causes, the president of the United States.
But another factor that has eroded American sentiment regarding its leader is that as the media has become more and more omnipresent, the American public began to know more and more about the men it chose as its leaders. Washington and Lincoln are almost mythical figures in the collective American psyche. This is not only because of the good they did while in office but also because relatively little is known about them on a personal level. Americans have never heard them speak and images of the two are few and far between. Compare that to the modern president who Americans see not only on TV delivering speeches but also during his personal time, vacationing or whatever. The American people have come to know modern presidents on a level that some may not even know their own friends and family. This has had the effect of making the president into a mere man, not the somehow untouchable figure he was in the earlier days of the country.
So while everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion regarding the commander in chief, remember that perception has likely played as significant a role in forming that opinion as reality has.