This Famous Texan Is Responsible For Helping Make Father’s Day Official

Celebrating our supportive and loving Southern father figures is easy to do, especially after each whole year of keeping us laughing (and cringing) at the dinner table with dad jokes and executing every one of the family’s household spring to-dos. While we often show our father figures how much we appreciate them with traditions such as a grill-tastic Father’s Day cookout, delicious Father’s Day cake in their favorite flavors, or heartfelt, hand-written card, it turns out that there is even more history to the day than most people know, and it can partially be attributed to a Southern-native president.

The History of Father's Day

While credit for the beginning of Father's Day celebrations is given to Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, in the early 1900s, it did not became recognized and observed officially until much later in 1966, when a certain Texas-native president issued a proclamation.

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a proclamation calling for the third Sunday in June to be recognized as Father's Day, stating "The third Sunday in June has for many years been observed as Father's Day. It is most appropriate that the Congress, by enactment of Senate Joint Resolution 161, has now given official recognition to this well-established tradition."

He continued, "If the father's responsibilities are many, his rewards are also great—the love, appreciation, and respect of children and spouse. It is the desire to acknowledge publicly these feelings we have for the fathers of our Nation that has inspired the Congress to call for the formal observance of Father's Day.”

It is said that inspiration was also taken from the earlier observance of Mother's Day, which was proclaimed decades earlier by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. Father's Day was later solidified permanently into law as a national holiday in 1972.

When Is Father's Day 2024?

This year Father's Day will fall on Sunday, June 16, 2024.

Father's Day Traditions

The meaning of fatherhood can represent many things to different people, and many Southerners might have multiple father figures—related and not—to celebrate on the third Sunday in June, which is perhaps why it is often celebrated with big gatherings and special Father's Day gifts of appreciation.

Similarly to Mother's Day, Father's Day is often a focus in church services on the appointed day, as well as being a nationally recognized government holiday. The most common family traditions for Father's Day include breakfast in bed, handmade gifts, and hand-written cards.

In the South, Father's Day celebrations might conclude with being "let off" of household chores for the day and an uninterrupted snooze on his favorite nap chair after lunch.

While President Lyndon B. Johnson didn't create Father's Day on his own, he did help it become a widely beloved holiday, and for that Southern dads everywhere are grateful.