In case you or your calendar publisher missed it, today is
Presidents’ Day. And in case you were
wondering “what’s that all about?” I thought this little snippet from the
History Channel’s website was helpful:
Presidents’ Day is
an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February. Originally
established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, it is still
officially called “Washington’s Birthday” by the federal government.
Traditionally celebrated on February 22—Washington’s actual day of birth—the
holiday became popularly known as Presidents’ Day after it was moved as part of
1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends
for the nation’s workers. While several states still have individual holidays
honoring the birthdays of Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other figures,
Presidents’ Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S.
presidents past and present.
No matter what your party
affiliation, every American ought to be able to concede that there isn’t a more
stressful job than the presidency of the United States. As comedian Brian Regan
has put it, there’s nothing like being awakened every morning to: “Problems.
All kinds of problems!” And while they are often ambitious folk, these remarkable
individuals give up 4 years (maybe 8, or even 12 if you’re FDR) of their lives
(in the case of 4, literally), their privacy, and their public reputations to
do their very best in leading our country. A lonely post in the best of times,
few leave office without the indicators of the wear and tear the intensity of
the presidency leaves. Each one has left
a unique legacy, a mark on American history. And each one deserves the
gratitude and respect of the American people.
With that in mind, I’m proud to
present to you ABB’s second “In the
Words of the President” quiz! Below are ten quotations from our presidents,
with three choices as to which president the quote originated from. Take a few
minutes to take the quiz (without using Google for a reference!) and submit
your answers via the comment section by March 5. The reader who gets the most
questions correct will receive an inspiring book from ABB! The Printer will have one more question in store in case of a tie.
And so, without further adieu, I
give you the Presidents of the United States of America, in their own words!
1)“No People
can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the
Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which
they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have
been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”
Abraham Lincoln
John Quincy Adams
George Washington
2)“[A] wise
and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another,
shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and
improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has
earned. This is the sum of good government…”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Thomas Jefferson
Martin Van Buren
3) “I pity the
creature who doesn’t work, at whichever end of the social scale he may regard
himself as being. The law of worthy work well done is the law of successful American
life.”
Theodore Roosevelt
William Jefferson Clinton
Franklin Pierce
4) “Our
government was made by patriotic, unselfish, sominded men for the control or
protection of a patriotic, unselfish and sober-minded people. It is suited to
such a people; but for those who are selfish, corrupt and unpatriotic it is the
worst government on earth.”
John
F. Kennedy
Grover Cleveland
Donald
Trump
5) “American
citizenship is a high estate. He who holds it is the peer of kings. It has been
secured by untold toil and effort. It will be maintained by no other method. It
demands the best that men and women have to give. But it likewise awards to its
partakers the best that there is on earth.”
Calvin
Coolidge
Andrew Jackson
Chester Alan Arthur
6) “[T]he same
revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around
the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the
state, but from the hand of God.”
Richard Nixon
John F. Kennedy
Dwight Eisenhower
7) “It remains
for the guardians of the public welfare to persevere in that justice and good
will toward other nations which invite a return of these sentiments toward the
United States; to cherish institutions which guarantee their safety and their
liberties, civil and religious; and to combine with a liberal system of foreign
commerce an improvement of the national advantages and a protection and
extension of the independent resources of our highly favored and happy country.”
John Tyler
James Madison
William Taft
Abraham Lincoln
James Monroe
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
9) “[Fatherhood
is] giving one’s all, from the break of day to its end, on the job, in the
house, but most of all in the heart.”
Barrack Obama
Ronald Reagan
Lyndon Johnson
10) “There is
but one just use of power, and it is to serve people. Help us to remember it,
Lord.”
John Adams
George H.W. Bush
Ulysses
Grant
