Patch Readers' Favorite Presidents Revealed

Quick, which four presidents' heads are portrayed on the Mount Rushmore granite sculpture in South Dakota?  Many people think about this famous landmark on Monday's holiday. But how did Presidents Day come to pass?

America's first president, George Washington, was born on Feb. 22, 1732. On his birthday in 1796, when he was in his last full year as president, the day became the holiday known as Washington's Birthday. However, Americans didn't observe this holiday until a century after his birth.

Washington's Birthday now is a U.S. federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February. It was implemented by an Act of Congress in 1880 for government offices in the District of Columbia; it was expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices.

As the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, the holiday was celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, Feb.  22. On Jan. 1, 1971, the federal holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. This date places it between Feb. 15 and 21, which means it never now lands on Washington's actual birthday, Feb. 22.

Eureka-Wildwood Patch readers who recently responded to a Patch-hosted question about their favorite U.S. president resulted in nine presidents being mentioned.  The following list is in order of how the presidents' names were suggested, with the percentage of votes for each.

Historians note that Americans in the time of George Washington wanted to give him the title of "King," but he refused.

The president receiving the most number of votes this week was Honest Abe Lincoln, who hailed from across the river in Illinois.