American Presidents Deserve Respect

I find it disturbing that so much importance and significance is ascribed to Martin Luther King Day here on the Harvard campus, while Presidents' Day (including Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays) is largely ignored.

Martin Luther King did a great service to his country, but he is certainly not on the same level as Lincoln and Washington. Without Washington, we never would have won the Revolutionary War, nor would we be governed by the Constitution we have today. In short, our country would not exist.

Without Lincoln, slavery certainly would not have ended when it did and we would no longer be the United States of America. Rather, the South would have successfully seceded and chaos resulted.

Yet we hear no recognition of these great men (as well as the rest of our past presidents) from University officials. Nor are there any musical festivities or other such celebrations (such as a Memorial Church service), to the best of my knowledge. Our presidents deserve greater respect. --Jonathan G. Brinton '99