Image courtesy of Twitter
Presidents’ Day is a holiday that is celebrated in the United States on the third Monday in February. It was created in 1885 and was originally coined as Washington’s Birthday to honor the first President of the Nation and it was meant to be celebrated on February 22nd, Washington’s birthdate. In 1971 the government decided to change the date of the holiday by passing the Uniform Holiday Bill, which moved the date to the third Monday in February in order to create more vacation time and longer weekends for workers.
Today the significance of Presidents’ Day varies depending on who you ask, as no one seems to agree on which President should actually be celebrated. Some people still exclusively celebrate Washington, others celebrate Washington as well as Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday is also in February (February 12th), and some individuals in the southern states even celebrate Jefferson, despite his birthday being in April. At Maxim Hygiene we believe that all Presidents should be celebrated, but that we should also celebrate the wives of the Presidents who helped propel change in society throughout the years. An interesting fact is that a President’s wife in the United States is often referred to as a “First Lady” but this term was not officially employed until the 1930s.
Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world – Hillary Rodham Clinton, previous First Lady
This quote by Hillary Clinton is a great reflection of how important it is to take women’s ideas into consideration and how influential they can actually be. Many First Ladies in the past did a lot to help pave the way for a better future for women today, but one past First Lady in particular was not afraid to speak up on many taboo subjects for her time, and in the process ended up saving many women’s lives.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
This remarkable woman was Betty Ford, who was born on April 8, 1918 in Chicago, Illinois. After a first failed marriage to a salesman, Betty met future President Gerald Ford in 1947 and married him one year later. The couple quickly became involved in politics and a little over 20 years later Gerald Ford was appointed Vice President of the United States of America. In 1974, less than one year into Ford’s Vice Presidency, President Richard Nixon resigned, leaving Ford to take his place. With this new position came new power, which allowed Betty to have a voice and speak up on many subjects that were never previously publicly addressed, like abortion and breast cancer.
Betty Ford was diagnosed with malignant breast cancer very early on in the beginning of her husband’s term. When she decided to undergo a mastectomy, she was very open about the disease and brought not only recognition to it, but allowed women to freely discuss the then taboo subject. This helped save many women’s lives, as they realized that they had options and that they were not alone.
For many years Betty struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, but when she sought out help she noticed that no recovery facility existed that was especially tailored to women and their specific needs. In 1982 once she was fully recovered she founded the Betty Ford Center, which is still in use today. Her center is open to everyone but is meant to particularly cater to women.
Betty Ford was not the only First Lady who addressed health issues. Nancy Reagan is known for her Just Say No to Drugs campaign and Rosalynn Carter has brought lots of awareness to mental health.
Image courtesy of the times.co.uk. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter on the left, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan on the right, 1981.
Women’s health and encouragement have always been main goals of Maxim Hygiene so we feel like our Nation’s First Ladies deserve lots of respect and admiration. We are very lucky that such powerful women have helped rally for women’s rights and awareness about different subjects. So please don’t forget: This Presidents’ Day think about our past and current Presidents but also remember the women that helped contribute to our well-being today.