- Presidential memorials in the United States
-
The Washington Monument in Washington DC.
The Presidential memorials in the United States honor the various Presidents of the United States and seek to perpetuate their legacies.
Contents
Living and physical elements
A Presidential memorial may have a physical element which consists of a monument or a statue within a monument. Its entire presence consists of a physical structure that is a permanent remembrance of the president it represents. Most well known presidential memorials such as the Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson memorials have a physical element.
There are also official presidential memorials that have a living element with only a minor physical presence. An example of a presidential living memorial is the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Located in a wing of the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., the Wilson Center has a small exhibit concerning President Wilson's life and work, but it is best known for its work to unite the world of ideas with the world of policy by supporting scholarship linked to issues of contemporary importance. In this way the living memorial perpetuates President Wilson’s legacy of scholarship linked closely to international relations.
Similarly, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship honors U.S. college students dedicated to public service and policy leadership, and thus may be considered a memorial with solely a living element. Indeed, the Truman Scholarship is the sole federal memorial allowed to honor President Truman.[1]
This can also be accomplished through the establishment of a policy institute, like the Eisenhower Institute whose mandate is to advance Eisenhower's intellectual and leadership legacies through research, public education, and public policy recommendations.[2]
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is an example of an official presidential memorial that has both a physical element, a striking building in Washington, DC, and a living element, an ongoing series of live theatrical performances, presented in the name of a fallen president.
Existing presidential memorials
- Washington Monument
- Washington Monument (Baltimore)
- Washington Monument (Washington County)
- George Washington Masonic National Memorial
- Jefferson Memorial
- Andrew Jackson Memorial
- Lincoln Memorial
- Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site
- Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
- Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
- Lincoln's New Salem
- Lincoln Home National Historic Site
- Ford's Theatre National Historic Site
- Lincoln's Tomb
- Mount Rushmore National Memorial
- Ulysses S. Grant Memorial
- Grant's Tomb
- James Buchanan Memorial in Meridian Hill Park in Washington, DC
- James A. Garfield Monument
- James A. Garfield National Historic Site
- McKinley National Memorial
- National McKinley Birthplace Memorial
- Theodore Roosevelt Island
- Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
- Warren G. Harding Memorial (Marion Cemetery)
- Hoover Tower
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
- Truman Scholarship
- John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame
- John F. Kennedy Memorial (Dallas)
- Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac
Planned presidential memorials
- The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial is currently being planned for Washington, D.C.
- The Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park is being constructed on Roosevelt Island in New York City.
- The John Adams Memorial is currently being planned for Washington, D.C.
See also
- Memorial
- Monument
- National Historic Landmark
- National Memorial
- List of National Memorials
- National Register of Historic Places
- Presidential library
- United States Memorials
- War memorial
References
Categories:- Buildings and monuments honoring American Presidents
- National Memorials of the United States
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