Days Until Presidents' Day (reference)

About Presidents' Day (reference)

Presidents' Day is statutorily the third Monday in February, originally established to honor George Washington's February 22 birthday and later popularly (though not universally officially) broadened to honor the presidency more generally, partly due to its proximity to Abraham Lincoln's February 12 birthday.

Unlike Washington's actual February 22 birthday, the holiday's third-Monday placement means it can now fall as early as February 15 — a date that, depending on the year, never actually coincides with either Washington's or Lincoln's real birth date.

Despite its popular "Presidents' Day" branding, the holiday's official federal name in law remains "Washington's Birthday" — a genuine, often-overlooked gap between the legal name and the broader meaning most Americans now associate with the date.

Some retailers began branding the day "Presidents' Day" in advertising as early as the 1980s, well before most government bodies formally adopted that broader unofficial name for what remains legally Washington's Birthday.