The presidential memorials in the United States honor the various

presidents of the United States The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and ...

and seek to perpetuate their legacies.

Living and physical elements

A presidential

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of ...

may have a physical element which consists of a

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

or a

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

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 Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 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 The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Wash ...

. 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. The Truman Scholarship is the sole federal memorial allowed to honor President Truman. 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.Eisenhower Memorial
The James Madison Memorial Building, the third and newest building of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

, is an example of a memorial with both living and physical elements. The building houses a memorial hall to President

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

, but is also dedicated in memory of his 1783 proposal that the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

form an official library.

Existing presidential memorials

Multiple statues of other physical memorials to some presidents exist, only large structures are mentioned below: *

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and ...

Washington Monument (Baltimore) The Washington Monument is the centerpiece of intersecting Mount Vernon Place and Washington Place, an urban square in the Mount Vernon-Belvedere neighborhood north of downtown Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first major monument begun to honor ...

Washington Monument (Washington County) Washington Monument State Park is a public recreation area located approximately southeast of Boonsboro, Maryland. The park preserves the Washington Monument, a tower honoring George Washington, the first President of the United States. The mo ...

George Washington Masonic National Memorial The George Washington Masonic National Memorial is a Masonic building and memorial located in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C. It is dedicated to the memory of George Washington, the first President of the United States and a Mason ...

* George Washington's Mount Vernon * Adams National Historical Park *

Jefferson Memorial The Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial built in Washington, D.C. between 1939 and 1943 in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, a central intellectual force behind the A ...

* Thomas Jefferson's Monticello * James Madison's Montpelier * James Madison Memorial Building * Andrew Jackson Statue, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C. *

Andrew Jackson Memorial at the Museum of the Waxhaws Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...

, Waxhaw, NC * Andrew Jackson's The Hermitage * Martin Van Buren National Historic Site * James K. Polk Home *

Franklin Pierce Homestead The Franklin Pierce Homestead is a historic house museum and state park located in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. It was the childhood home of the fourteenth president of the United States, Franklin Pierce. Overview The house is located on the ...

* James Buchanan Memorial in Meridian Hill Park, Washington, DC * President James Buchanan's Wheatland *

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in ...

* Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park *

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial is a United States presidential memorial and a National Historic Landmark District in Lincoln City, Indiana. It preserves the farm site where Abraham Lincoln lived with his family from 1816 to 1830. During that t ...

Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site is a reconstruction of the former village of New Salem in Menard County, Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln lived from 1831 to 1837. While in his twenties, the future U.S. President made his living in this vi ...

* Lincoln Home National Historic Site *

Ford's Theatre National Historic Site Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box ...

* Lincoln Tomb and War Memorials State Historic Site *

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum documents the life of the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, and the course of the American Civil War. Combining traditional scholarship with 21st-century showmanship techniques, the museum ...

Ulysses S. Grant Memorial The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring American Civil War general and 18th United States President Ulysses S. Grant. It sits at the base of Capitol Hill (Union Square, the Mall, 1st Street, betwe ...

* General Grant National Memorial * Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum * James A. Garfield Memorial * James A. Garfield Monument * James A. Garfield National Historic Site * Benjamin Harrison memorial statue * Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site *

McKinley National Memorial The McKinley National Memorial in Canton, Ohio, United States, is the final resting place of William McKinley, who served as the 25th president of the United States from 1897 to his assassination in 1901. Canton was a significant place in McKin ...

National McKinley Birthplace Memorial The National McKinley Birthplace Memorial Library and Museum is the national memorial to President William McKinley, located in Niles, Ohio. Also known as the McKinley Memorial Library, Museum & Birthplace Home, the memorial is a marble monume ...

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site is a recreated brownstone at 28 East 20th Street, between Broadway and Park Avenue South, in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City. It is a replica of the birthplace and childhood ...

* Sagamore Hill National Historic Site *

Theodore Roosevelt Island Theodore Roosevelt Island is an island and national memorial located in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. During the Civil War, it was used as a training camp for the United States Colored Troops. The island was given to the federal governm ...

William Howard Taft National Historic Site William Howard Taft National Historic Site is a historic house at 2038 Auburn Avenue in the Mount Auburn Historic District of Cincinnati, Ohio, a mile (1.6 km) north of Downtown. It was the birthplace and childhood home of William Howard Ta ...

* Warren G. Harding Memorial (Marion Cemetery) * Warren G. Harding Home and Museum *

Hoover Tower Hoover Tower is a structure on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. The tower houses the Hoover Institution Library and Archives, an archive collection founded by Herbert Hoover before he became President of the United Stat ...

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and burial place of Herbert Clark Hoover, the 31st president of the United States (1929–1933), located on the grounds of the Herbert Hoover National Historic S ...

* Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site * Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum * Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial * Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, New York City's

Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to ...

* Harry S. Truman National Historic Site * Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum * Harry S. Truman Scholarship * Eisenhower National Historic Site *

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home is the presidential library and museum of Dwight David Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States (1953–1961), located in his hometown of Abilene, Kansas. The m ...

Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial is a United States presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. honoring Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and the 34th President of the United States. ...

* John F. Kennedy National Historic Site *

John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame The John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame is a presidential memorial at the gravesite of assassinated United States President John F. Kennedy, in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. This permanent site replaced a temporary grave and eternal flame ...

* John F. Kennedy Memorial (Dallas) *

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and museum of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–1963), the 35th president of the United States (1961–1963). It is located on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neighb ...

* Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park * Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site * Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac * Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum *

Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and burial site of Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th president of the United States (1969–1974), and his wife Pat Nixon. Located in Yorba Linda, California, on land ...

* Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library * Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum * Jimmy Carter National Historic Site * Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum *

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the repository of presidential records from the administration of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, and the burial place of the president and first lady, Nancy Reagan. It is the lar ...

* George H. W. Bush Memorial, Houston, Texas *

George Bush Presidential Library and Museum The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and burial site of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States (1989–1993), and his wife Barbara Bush. Located on a site on the west campus of ...

* President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site *

William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park The William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library of Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States (1993–2001). It is located in Little Rock, Arkansas and includes the Clinton Presidential Library, ...

* George W. Bush Presidential Center *

Mount Rushmore National Memorial Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakot ...

Planned presidential memorials

* The

Adams Memorial The Adams Memorial is a proposed United States presidential memorial to honor the second President John Adams; his wife and prolific writer Abigail Adams; their son, the sixth President John Quincy Adams; John Quincy Adams' wife Louisa Catherin ...

is currently being planned for Washington, DC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Presidential memorial * National Memorials of the United States

Living and physical elements

Existing presidential memorials

Planned presidential memorials

See also

References