Two Days in November

It is perhaps by unique coincidence or American design that two essential events happen within ten days of each other in early November, each and every year.

Those two events are Election Day and Veterans Day and given the state of governments on most every level and the national discourse in the body politic, this particular convergent happenstance should be cause for reflection.

A brief history of what was originally called Armistice Day – the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, signaling the end to the ‘war to end all wars’ – perhaps is in order.

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

Acknowledging the service of all Americans who wore the uniform of their nation subsequently apparently became a minor inconvenience to some elected officials and thus a circuitous route was taken for the holiday subsequently named ‘Veterans Day’.

To wit:

The Uniform Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to ensure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates.

The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September 20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978.

Regulated by the United States Constitution and thus immune from the meddling hands of bureaucrats, Election Day in the United States of America is the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.

The fortuitous nature of these two days falling so close together on the calendar should give us pause to remember when standing in the isolation of the voting booth that the right to vote, to have a say in our future, is ours solely because of the Americans who have, are, and will fight to protect and defend the greatest democracy the world has ever known.

The Madison Conservative does not promote any candidate or political faction; it asks only that come Tuesday you exercise your right and responsibility as a United States Citizen to take an hour out of your day to have your voice heard.

Those who have worn the uniform of your country and taken up arms in her defense deserve no less.