Reluctant Reagan signed law honoring Martin Luther King
Ronald Reagan was always smart to be lucky. In 1983, he signed into law the legislation that made the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a national holiday. Reagan did not support the legislation. Luckily, he did not have to say that he opposed the King holiday because he thought King did not deserve to be so honored — although that was almost certainly his opinion. Plenty of people at the time shared that opinion, and plenty of people still do.
There is, after all, exactly one other American so honored, and that person is George Washington. Not Lincoln, not Jefferson. (The third Monday in February, the day we call “Presidents Day,” is officially — as it has always been — Washington’s Birthday.) Giving Martin Luther King Jr., a man who never held public office, an honor heretofore reserved exclusively for the father of his country was indeed a loud statement, one that our nation’s most conservative president probably would have preferred not to make.
Reagan, born in 1911, was also 18 years older than King, which is another reason he likely thought the idea absurd. But these were not the reasons for his objection.
Reagan objected because he believed — completely consistent with his conservative philosophy — that another federal holiday would just create more government bloat. The King holiday would become the 10th national holiday for which all federal workers got a paid day off, the cost of which the Congressional Budget Office estimated at $18 million per holiday in 1983 dollars. (To those who objected to the cost of the new holiday, Sen. Robert Dole of Kansas, whose conservative bona fides were no less than Reagan’s, said: “I suggest they hurry back to their pocket calculators and estimate the cost of 300 years of slavery, followed by a century or more of economic, political and social exclusion and discrimination.”)
Luckily for the president, the legislation was passed with veto-proof majorities, making his threatened veto a non-issue. So on Nov. 2, 1983, in a Rose Garden ceremony, Ronald Reagan signed the legislation into law with Coretta Scott King, King’s widow, by his side. This is often listed among his accomplishments.
Reagan’s point was not without logic. The original impetus for the holiday came from labor unions with large African-American memberships that sought a paid day off on MLK’s birthday in contract negotiations. And though legislation creating the holiday was a landmark in American racial relations, all the creation of a federal holiday practically does is give a paid day off to federal government workers. It does not give the day a spirit or a meaning.
Many of the people who had worked diligently for years collecting signatures and petitioning legislators to create the King holiday must have experienced a “What now?” moment when they achieved their goal. They had insisted on having an “official” holiday. They were not interested in Reagan’s counter-suggestion that the King birthday be observed like Lincoln’s, which is to say, without closing government offices. But giving kids a January day off from school so they can stay in the house and play video games is hardly the best way to honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. If the King holiday were to keep true to the spirit of the man whose life inspired it, then it had to more than just another three-day weekend.
In 1994, Sen. Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania and Congressman John Lewis of Georgia authored the King Holiday and Service Act, with the intention of transforming the King holiday from a vacation day into a day of civic participation and volunteerism; from what had been a “day off” to a “day on.” President Bill Clinton signed the legislation into law on Aug. 23, 1994. The Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service has often been cited as the nation’s largest King Day event.
(On April 21, 2009, President Obama signed legislation creating the Sept. 11 Day of Service and Remembrance, making it the second official day of service, though not a national holiday.)
Speaking of Clinton, he created an unusual precedent when former President Richard Nixon died by giving a day off to all federal workers on the day of Nixon’s funeral, April 27, 1994. Twice, George W. Bush repeated this custom, for the funerals of former President’s Ronald Reagan and Gerald R. Ford. Except for Clinton, all good conservatives.
what is open and what is closed
MLK Day is a federal holiday and that means there is no mail delivery; most banks are closed with some exceptions; the stock market is closed and federal offices are not open for business.
However, retail stores like Walmart and Target are open on Martin Luther King Day and some in-store bank branches will be open on Monday.
If you are a federal employee, it's likely that you have the day off or you are getting double time pay on Monday. The 2013 Federal holiday calendar indicates that Monday is federal holiday, with government offices, schools and post offices are closed, with very few exceptions.
Martin Luther King Day is Jan. 21, 2013
Retail stores, malls, gas stations, liquor stores, and restaurants are open on MLK day, with some observing holiday hours. It's always a best bet to call ahead to find out the holiday hours of any retailer or dining establishment before you get in your car.
Post Offices: There is no mail delivery on Monday. All USPS offices are closed.
Stock Market: Closed
Banks: Most banks are closed on Martin Luther King Day, with some exceptions. Citizens Bank in Rhode Island states that grocery store branches are open on Monday. TD Bank branches are all open on Monday.
Libraries are closed.
City/State Offices: There may be some exceptions, but for the most part, city offices are closed.
Schools: Publics schools are closed.
Malls and Retail Stores: The majority of grocery stores, retail stores, gas stations and restaurants are all open for business as usual.
Restaurants: Most restaurants are open regular business hours.
Martin Luther King Day was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time on January 17, 2000. Prior to that, New Hampshire and Arizona did not observe the holiday.
The next federal holiday is President’s Day, also known as Washington's Birthday. The holiday will be observed on Feb. 18, 2013.
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Monday, January 21st 2013 at 1:37AM
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