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Illinois State celebrates Barack Obama’s birthday as a public holiday

Illinois State celebrates Barack Obama’s birthday as a public holiday

Posted August. 09, 2017 07:14,   

Updated August. 09, 2017 07:53

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Former U.S. President Barack Obama’s birthday has been commemorated by Illinois, his political home, as a public holiday. According to The Chicago Tribune, the state has passed the proposal to make August 4, the birthday of the 44th U.S. president who started his political career in Chicago, as the "Day of Barack Obama."

The Illinois House narrowly rejected a plan to make Obama’s birthday a state holiday, a paid holiday, in March despite Democrats’ proposal. Once it becomes a public holiday, it would cost additional 3.2 million U.S. dollars annually for a holiday working day and 16 million dollars in productivity losses. Texas is the only state that designated a former president’s birthday as a public holiday.

Illinois has produced five presidents, and Obama is the only one whose birthday is celebrated as a public holiday. Other presidents are Abraham Lincoln (16th president), Ulysses Grant (18th), Gerald Ford (35th) and Ronald Reagan (40th).



Sung-Ha Joo zsh75@donga.com