President Jimmy Carter proclaimed 1978 as the first year Veterans Day was observed again on November 11.
Congress had temporarily shifted Veterans Day to a Monday under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, beginning in 1971. The change was intended to create more three-day weekends, but many veterans’ groups argued that moving the date weakened its historical connection to the November 11 armistice.
Congress later restored Veterans Day to its traditional date through legislation signed by President Gerald Ford in 1975. The restoration took effect in 1978, and President Carter issued the proclamation for that year’s observance.
This sequence is often confused: Ford signed the restoration law, while Carter proclaimed the first restored November 11 observance. The distinction explains why both presidents appear in accounts of the holiday’s return.