The month of February is home to a federal holiday for presidents, and below, there's lots more history of Presidents' Day ... or is it George Washington's birthday? Coincidentally, it seems presidents and fiddle tunes go together, as a quick check of Old Time tune titles reveals quite a few named after presidents. So, in honor of George Washington, whose original birthday and holiday celebration in February was "adjusted" for mainly economic reasons, please enjoy a “presidential fiddle tune” for each day in February. Plus one extra for leap years. Included are links to video, and/or some history of the tune.

Presidents' Day or Washington's Birthday?

In 1879, a federal holiday was created to honor the first president of the United States, George Washington. It was initially celebrated on his birthday, February 22nd. However, in 1968, the US Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act and changed the holiday from Washington's actual birthday to the third Monday in February. (This act also affected Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and eventually, Columbus Day, and was not without controversy.) Ironically, this guaranteed that the holiday would never be celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, as the third Monday in February cannot fall any later than February 21st. Officially, the federal holiday is still called "Washington's Birthday," but most now recognize the day as “Presidents’ Day,” since President Lincoln’s birthday (February 12th) has never itself been a federal holiday, but has come to be included. Furthermore, merchants have fully embraced that name for their 3 day weekend sales events. Interestingly, individual states are not required to adopt federal holidays, so some have changed the name, some have changed the date, some have added presidents, and some have no state holiday at all.

28 Presidential Tunes For February

1. Washington’s March

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irYc6bG78lw

https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Washington%27s_March_(3)

2. George Washington

https://www.loc.gov/item/afc9999005.16922/

3. Stonewall Jackson

https://dla.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/berea/id/632/

https://tunearch.org/wiki/Stonewall_Jackson_(1)

4. Jackson’s Victory (Eighth Of January)

https://www.knoxvilleoldtime.org/tune-history-10/the-eighth-of-january

5. Jackson's March/ Jackson’s Grand March

https://www.loc.gov/item/2023797400/

6. Jackson Walking To The White House

 https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/jackson-walking-white-house

7. Stonewall Jackson

https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/stonewall-jackson-0

https://tunearch.org/wiki/Stonewall_Jackson_(1)

https://dla.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/berea/id/632/

8. Taylor’s Quickstep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB5p80Rn-7E

9. Death Of Abraham Lincoln

https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/death-abraham-lincoln

10. Booth Shot Lincoln

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQveux304rk

https://www.knoxvilleoldtime.org/tune-history-10/booth-shot-lincoln

11. Booth Shot Lincoln Polka

https://thesession.org/tunes/17701

12. President Lincoln’s Hornpipe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ3BLLeJYVI

13. *Jeff Davis

https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Jeff_Davis_(1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKIYuVFiw8o

14. *Jefferson Davis' Reel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfEfUji-w7g

https://www.folktunefinder.com/tunes/167436

15. *Jeff Davis County Reel

https://www.oldtimefiddletunes.net/tunes/JeffDavisCounty.pdf

*President of the Confederate States of America 1861-1865

16. President Grant/President Grant’s Hornpipe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XOC0FnTIzY

17. President Garfield/President Garfield’s Hornpipe

https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/president-garfield

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KorMMFauwI

18. Garfield’s Blackberry Blossom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGyn4PQs_SY

https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Blackberry_Blossom_(4)

19. Garfield March

https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/garfield-march

20. Garfield

https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/garfield

21. Garfield’s Funeral March

https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/garfields-funeral-march

22. Cleveland’s March To The White House/Cleveland’s March

https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/clevelands-march-white-house

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LXRfY0ieq4

23. McKinley’s March

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FEhCwQJu9g

https://tunearch.org/wiki/McKinley%27s_March

24. President Kennedy’s Waltz

https://tunearch.org/wiki/President_Kennedy%27s_Waltz

25. President Richard Milhous Nixon’s Hornpipe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inQQf5bMQVM

26. Nixon’s Farewell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ_AqJWMBoc

https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Nixon%27s_Farewell

27. Obama’s March To The White House

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlseV_lIhYs

28. Obama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSiQeru6vPE&list=OLAK5uy_lLA2P4faToc6Y8HKU72ht9DhOrpZrJWv4&index=7

Just in case it's a leap year:

29. *Getting George Bush Upstairs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBc5dtE76Kw

https://tunearch.org/wiki/Getting_George_Bush_Upstairs

*Pre-dates, and not about either President George Bush, but it’s a good tune