Presidential Labor Day

On the evening of November 2, 1992, James Carville addressed the final War Room meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas.  He started off by stating, "There’s a simple doctrine that outside a person’s love the most sacred thing that they can give is their labor and somehow along the way we tend to forget that. Labor is a very precious thing that you have, and anytime you can combine labor with love; you’ve made a merger."    

As time went forward, work was not just about the paycheck, but the benefits that a worker received for their years of dedication like health insurance for themselves and their families, pensions, vacation time, sick leave, unemployment and/or disability insurance, and decent working conditions. Since the 1940s, going to college was the American Dream, alongside owning a home that parents had for their children.  Prior to the 1980s, college educations were rather affordable, but then that cost skyrocketed resulting in future generations taking out to date $1.9 trillion in student loans.  The federal government would step in in some creative ways like Americorps to pay off those student loans by giving back community work to a community in need of your skills that you were taught.  Others are ideas of making the first two years of a community college free to learn the skills to get into the workforce with virtually very little debt so that through work you can live the American Dream.  In the past 90 years, there have been at least three times where the situation was so bad economically that the federal government had to step in and help the nation’s workers; 1933 at the height of the Great Depression, 2008/2009 with the start of the Great Recession, and in 2020/2021 when COVID-19 caused the economy to shut down and to help workers get back on the job while combating an unknown worldwide virus.  

When the United States government invests in its people whether through job training or education, there is nothing that we cannot do.  A great example of this was the GI Bill.  This was a program funded by the federal government that really saved the American economy from a potential unemployment epidemic of returning veterans after World War II.  Some would say that the GI Bill was the gift that kept on giving.  It allowed for more Americans to get a higher education and then able to work in higher paying jobs.  That in turn made it possible for more home ownership and the ability to buy more consumer goods.  Labor Department statistics at that time showed that by investing in the GI Bill that for every $1 tax dollar invested, the American economy received a seven fold return of $7.00 on that investment.  

The federal holiday in the United States is recognized as a holiday to honor and recognize the American labor movement and to honor the work and developments of American laborers in the development and the achievements of the United States.

In the late 19th Century the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor organized the first parade in New York City honoring the work of American labor.  Oregon would be the first state to recognize Labor Day as an official federal holiday in 1887, and by 1894; there were thirty states who celebrated Labor Day.  There would be picnics where participants would hear speeches from prominent labor leaders.

In 1894 Congress had passed a bill recognizing Labor Day as an official federal holiday.  President Grover Cleveland would sign the bill on June 28.  The law originally only made it a holiday for federal workers, but as late as the 1930s, unions would encourage workers to strike to get that day off too.

As Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer and the Fourth of July is the unofficial midpoint of summer, Labor Day has been thought of as the unofficial end of summer.  Traditionally, working families would take their family vacations for the two weeks leading up to Labor Day Weekend.  This would also be the time of year when school and fall sports would start.  In Virginia, the amusement park industry successfully lobbied the state legislature to pass a law allowing for most school districts in the state to start school after Labor Day. This Kings Dominion Law, as it was named would allow one more weekend for families to visit the state’s amusement parks. In 2019, the law would be repealed.

This is also the time when state fairs are going on.  In the state of Minnesota there is a state law where public schools don’t start until after Labor Day.  This was to allow for children to have time to show their 4-H projects.

In the world of fashion, Labor Day Weekend is the last day that you can wear white or seersuckers.

Politically, the United States had leaders who would address various labor issues.  Some were on the side of labor and some were not.  This collection is our presidents addressing such things as the 1946 Railroad Strike, the 1981 Air Traffic Control firings, and the more recent Executive Order by Joe Biden trying to encourage fair competition in the workplace.

It is to the American laborer and the retiree from labor that this collection has been created.

See also: Labor Day: Unions, Strikes, and the Labor Movement in Old Time Radio