1868 Memorial Day John Logan (R-IL) was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1866 and then in 1871 to the first of three terms in the U.S. Senate. He was the GOP’s vice presidential nominee in 1884.
In 1868, as head of a Civil War veterans organization, Logan proclaimed that Americans should honor fallen servicemen by decorating their graves with flowers. That year, five thousand people attended the first ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery. The principal speaker was future president James Garfield (R-OH). Memorial Day soon became an annual event, and President Richard Nixon signed it into law as a national holiday in 1971.
