ADVERTISEMENTS

I just learned that Franklin Delano Roosevelt actually re-set the dates of Thanksgiving a week earlier in 1939-1940 to extend the holiday-shopping seasons in those grim economic years.  This interesting WSJ piece lays out how FDR did it, and why, and the instantaneously horrible reception the move received.  FDR took the position that the date of Thanksgiving was set by Presidential decree, not by statute, and therefore, he could do it, and would do it. Maybe the absoluteness of holiday-setting power was a tempting draw in the wake of a halted larger agenda. The public didn't take to this very well.  62% in a Gallup poll disapproved of the date change.  "Don't mess with Thanksgiving, Mr. President," seemed to be the message.

Many states did not go along with FDR for the ride in 1939-1940.  23 states stuck to the old date for the state holiday. 22 followed FDR's decree.  3 states, Colorado, Texas, and Mississippi, took the third way, declaring a Thanksgiving holiday for both dates.  (Imagine that!  Two Thanksgivings?)  Among the more voluble critics of FDR's move: administrators of high-school and collegiate athletic leagues.  Moving Thanksgiving a week earlier caused them all sorts of havoc.

FDR's gambit paid no economic dividends. (Why would it?)  The Thanksgiving experiment was abandoned and since World War II, it remains where it is. On December 26, 1942, FDR signed a bill into law that represented a slight compromise. Thanksgiving, by statute, (5 U.S.C. 876) is to be celebrated as a federal holiday on the fourth Thursday in November, which is usually the last Thursday, sometimes, the next-to-last. 

As a commenter points out, this statute prevents the holiday from being celebrated on the 29th or 30th, part of FDR's goal.  (In 1939, Thanksgiving would have been on the 30th, In 1940, the 28th.)  FDR's original 1939-1940 decrees were that Thanksgiving be commemorated on the "next-to-last Thursday," which this year, would have put Thanksgiving on November 19th.  (Sounds a bit early to me.) That part of FDR's decree was not adopted by statute. Though Congress passed this bill in October 1941, FDR's pen crossed the bill a few weeks after Pearl Harbor.  It must have been important to settle this knotty problem, establishing uniformity and preserving tradition.  Thanksgiving would certainly take on more meaning in the half-decade ahead.

So, what do you think of moving President's Day to mid-March?  Wouldn't it space out the year a little bit better?  I will confess that after leaving high-school, President's Day usually presents itself to me as a disapppointing trip out to the mailbox. ("Oh, that's right!  No mail today!")  I've never since attended a school or worked anywhere that commemorated that holiday.

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.