Barack Obama

Obama Recognizes Anti-Communist Forebears

Justin Elliott | May 1, 2009, 2:14PM

Happy Law Day and Loyalty Day everyone!

That's right, it's May Day or Labor Day in most of the world today, and President Obama has issued a pair of proclamations recognizing the homegrown American institutions of Law Day and Loyalty Day.

Law Day, established amid the anti-Communist fervor of the late 1950s by Dwight Eisenhower (the same president who gave us "under God" in the Pledge Of Allegiance a few years earlier), is designed, naturally, to celebrate the rule of law.

As Eisenhower put it: "In a very real sense, the world no longer has a choice between force and law. If civilization is to survive, it must choose the rule of law."

Loyalty Day, on the other hand -- which apparently began as 'Americanization Day' -- was established amid the anti-Communist fervor of the early 1920s in the wake of the Russian Revolution. Congress made it official, and President Eisenhower signed it into law the same year he created Law Day. Unfortunately, though, May 1 was getting a little crowded, and he felt obligated to bump Child Health Day to make room.

Today, Obama said, "I call upon all the people of the United States to join in support of this national observance and to display the flag of the United States on Loyalty Day."

Full proclamations, which clearly aim for a tone of inclusiveness, after the jump.

Read more »