Patrick J. Murphy

Presidents' Day began as a tribute to the birthdays of Washington and later Lincoln. Now it's mostly a three-day weekend with a mattress sale.

But since you opened LinkedIn on your day off, let me tell you what matters about the presidents we're honoring.

When people think of Washington, his battlefield heroics likely come to mind. But just as important to his legacy was setting the precedent for term limits.

No other major world leaders walked away from power at the time. Washington could’ve been President for life if he wanted. Many expected him to. Instead, he stepped aside, and in doing so modeled the democratic transfer of power for the rest of the world.

(If you're a Hamilton fan, the song "One Last Time" captures this better than most history books.)

This isn’t just a history lesson about our first president. It’s a life lesson that can be applied to your leadership, too.

I wrote more about lessons from our presidents on my Substack, which you can read here:

Enjoy the Monday off -- and the sales if you must! 🇺🇸

Lessons From Our Best Presidents The presidents who mattered most were system-builders under fire.