Every Dog (and Norseman) Has His Day
WASHINGTON — In case you missed it — the Nobel Prize announcement may have been distracting — a momentous milestone occurred last week in the presidency of Barack Obama: He spent his first Leif Erikson Day in the White House.
The occasion fell during Fire Prevention Week and National Wilderness Month. It followed fast on the heels of Mr. Obama’s first National Hunting and Fishing Day declaration (Sept. 22) and a week before he gets to proclaim White Cane Safety Day (Oct. 15.)
Every administration will commit countless words, trees and taxpayer-supported staff hours to issuing hundreds, if not thousands, of presidential proclamations. Why? Because they just do, and always have, and because giving a presidential shout-out to some constituency group, public interest or obscure milestone can reap goodwill with some sliver of the population.
So while Leif Erikson Day passed largely unnoticed Wednesday amid the daily presidential smorgasbord of Afghanistan and health care, the White House took care to mark the event with a soaring tribute to the great Scandinavian explorer, just as every White House has since the days of Lyndon B. Johnson.
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The occasion fell during Fire Prevention Week and National Wilderness Month. It followed fast on the heels of Mr. Obama’s first National Hunting and Fishing Day declaration (Sept. 22) and a week before he gets to proclaim White Cane Safety Day (Oct. 15.)
Every administration will commit countless words, trees and taxpayer-supported staff hours to issuing hundreds, if not thousands, of presidential proclamations. Why? Because they just do, and always have, and because giving a presidential shout-out to some constituency group, public interest or obscure milestone can reap goodwill with some sliver of the population.
So while Leif Erikson Day passed largely unnoticed Wednesday amid the daily presidential smorgasbord of Afghanistan and health care, the White House took care to mark the event with a soaring tribute to the great Scandinavian explorer, just as every White House has since the days of Lyndon B. Johnson.