February 20, 2012
Celebrating Presidents’ Day
By Elisabeth Grant
Last year on Presidents’ Day we explored the holiday’s beginnings: starting in 1880 as a celebration of George Washington’s Birthday, modified in 1971 to fall on a Monday in accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, and finally broadened in the 1980s from Washington’s Birthday to Presidents’ Day (learn more in the National Archives Prologue magazine article, “By George, IT IS Washington’s Birthday!”).
This Presidents’ Day, we look back at past president-related posts featured here on AHA Today.
Remembering Presidents’ Day
See our Presidents’ Day roundup from last year for links to photos of Abraham Lincoln in the Library of Congress Flickr feed, the BackStory podcast on Presidential Transitions, PBS’s The Presidents documentary series, and much more.- Presidential Debates: Past and Present
A collection of resources on past presidential debates, from the Commission on Presidential Debates website, to the Presidential Debate Primer lesson plan, to a historian’s perspective on the election of 1800. 
Presidential Libraries on YouTube
The libraries of the following eight presidents have channels on YouTube: George Bush, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover, Lyndon Baines Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Harry S. Truman. What each of these YouTube channels offers varies, but most include videos of presidential speeches, exhibits, lectures, educational programs, and more.- How to Not Fail as President
In 2009 we noted the start of an Encyclopedia Britannica blog series on “Top 10 Mistakes by U.S. Presidents.” The Japanese Internment, Hoover’s Attack on the Bonus Army, and the Whiskey Rebellion, were just a few
of their picks. - Presidential Recordings Program
The Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia’s Presidential Recordings Program offers visitors access to full transcripts, audio files, and teaching resources on recordings of presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, from their time in office.
