It’s President’s Day, which isn’t as great as it used to be. Way back when, February seemed like one big presidential holiday — Abe Lincoln on the 12th and George Washington on the 22nd. It’s a wonder anybody ever got mail or made a bank deposit!

Then it all came crumbling down, and all the presidents got lumped into one day. Seemed like that was right about the time they discovered Washington wasn’t actually born on the 22nd (it was actually on the 11th), but there was a calendar upgrade and everything converted to what we have now.

Sure, we all know about the big guys when it comes to the presidents. But with the new President’s Day set-up, it now frees me up to celebrate some of these guys as well:

  • James Buchanan (1857-61) — only bachelor president. How great must that pick-up line have been at the Buffalo Wild Wings in D.C.?
  • Warren Harding (1921-23) — the guy had a size 14 shoe. And you know what they say about guys with big feet … they tend to die in office, which he did at age 57.
  • Martin Van Buren (1837-41) — first president born as an American citizen, but have you seen the sideburns on this guy? Do yourself a favor and check those babies out.
  • Millard Fillmore (1850-53) — installed the first bathtub in the White House. That’s all well and good, but I just like saying “Millard Fillmore.”
  • You are not going to believe this, but John Tyler (1841-45), who was born in 1790, has two grandchildren WHO ARE STILL ALIVE. John also had 15 kids, which hacks off Buchanan to this day.
  • But most of all, William Howard Taft (1909-13) was my boy. When he called it quits, he didn’t just go off and play golf and do lunch with his posse. He became Supreme Court Chief Justice. Nice second act. But the true measure of his greatness was that he “invented” the seventh inning stretch in 1910. He showed up for Opening Day of the Washington Senators game and when he got up during the middle of the seventh to stretch his legs, the crowd stood up with him as a sign of respect. Voila! Instant baseball tradition! And shame on you for thinking Harry Carey invented it.

So let’s all try to remember all 45 presidents on this day, not just the ones who get all the historical pub.