Washington

“Greatness Obscured” is an apt title for your fine editorial tribute (Feb. 16) to George Washington.

What I fear, with regard to Presidents’ Day, is that by lumping the birthdays of Washington and Abraham Lincoln into this arching celebration “obscures” the “greatness” of both men, and can, in time, became a meaningless holiday that is a tribute to all those who served this nation as President of the United States.

We should never forget those who served, but there are many who merit no honor.

We need to return to holidays that toast Washington and Lincoln separately.

What’s happened instead is that Lincoln’s birthday has become a fund raiser for the Republican Party when “Honest Abe” served his country first. And Washington’s special contributions can be “obscured.”

A “Presidents’ Day “ needs to become an instrument instead to discuss and study what makes a President “great” and worthy of being honored.

HYMAN H. HAVES

Pacific Palisades