Veterans Day first became a legal federal holiday in the United States on May 13, 1938, when it was officially designated as "Armistice Day." The holiday was later renamed Veterans Day through legislation signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on June 1, 1954, to honor American veterans of all wars.
The holiday originated as Armistice Day, proclaimed in 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson to commemorate the end of World War I on November 11, 1918. Congress passed a concurrent resolution in 1926 for annual observance, and the 1938 Act made November 11 a legal holiday dedicated to world peace and honoring World War I veterans. Following World War II and the Korean War, veterans' service organizations urged Congress to amend the act to honor all veterans. The 1954 legislation accomplished this by striking the word "Armistice" and inserting "Veterans."
An additional legislative change affected the holiday's observance date. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 moved Veterans Day to the fourth Monday of October, beginning in 1971, to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. However, the historical significance of the November 11th date led many states to continue their observances on the original day. In response to this widespread sentiment, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 in 1975, which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, effective in 1978.
