This is better suited for a Friday Links post, but since I just saw it today and it’s relevant to tomorrow’s holiday, I thought I would go ahead and share it today.
I think I had heard of this before, but never read the details. In 1939, President Roosevelt decided to change the date of Thanksgiving to add another week of Christmas shopping. The hope was that extra week would give a boost to the struggling economy.
His decision did not go over well.
Republicans pounced, and used the move to portray Roosevelt as a power-mad tyrant. In an early example of Godwin’s Law, FDR’s recent presidential opponent Alf Landon said Roosevelt sprung his decision on “an unprepared country with the omnipotence of a Hitler.” Senator Styles Bridges of New Hampshire suggested that while Roosevelt was at it, he should abolish winter.
As you will read, for three years Thanksgiving was held on different days in different states until a new, permanent date was established that we still use today.
Politics, man.
But we do have a precedent for my brilliant idea of a year or two ago: moving Christmas to late January. Come on, Obama, do it!
The executive action that tore a nation apart
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!