Happy Father's Day

The idea of a Father's Day was first proposed by a woman, Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington.  It came to her during a church service on Mother's Day in 1908.  Mother's Day was a state by state holiday then; it became federally recognized by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914.  Mrs. Dodd's mother had died in childbirth, and she was raised by her father.

But Father's Day turned out to be a harder sell.  It was widely celebrated, thanks to the greeting card industry, but it wasn't federally declared until President Richard Nixon, who had already ordered the Watergate break-in and started the cover-up, bombed Cambodia and widened the Vietnam War, had his aides compile and begin using an Enemy's List, permanently established Father's Day in 1972.  So enjoy!