No school on February 18! But, why? We know it’s because of President's Day, but do we know much about the Presidents we’re celebrating? President’s Day falls on the third Monday of February, and is dedicated to Presidents Washington and Lincoln, both very influential to our country’s history.

     George Washington was born in 1732 in Virginia. He was interested in the military and expansion into the west. During the Revolutionary War, Washington served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. In May 1775, he was elected Chief of the Continental Army. Washington worked towards a new Constitution, and was elected unanimously by the Electoral College. Washington finally grew Booth, who was attempting to help the South. Lincoln died the next day, and the United States mourned the loss of a great leader. weary, and decided to retire at the end of his second term in office. He spent three years at Mount Vernon before he died of a throat nfection on December 14, 1799. Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin County, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. His mother died when he was ten years old, but he managed to learn how to read and write. Lincoln worked splitting rails to make fencesand running a store in New Salem, Illinois.

     Lincoln became a captain in the Black Hawk War, and participated in Illinois legislature for eight years. In 1858, Lincoln lost the election for the Senate to Stephen Douglas, but through their debates, Lincoln won popularity and the Republican nomination for President in 1860. Lincoln made the Republican Party stronger during his presidency. He also convinced most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the Confederacy.

     Lincoln was re-elected in 1864, and continued to urge Southerners to reunite with the rest of the country. On April 14, 1865, at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, Lincoln was shot in the head by a young actor, John Wilkes Booth.