How to Win a Monument

James Buchanan, a one-term President and conspicuous second-rater, has a monument in Washington—one of only seven Presidents to be so honored.

It takes an act of Congress to raise a public outdoor monument in the capital city. The 49 Americans on pedestals in Washington are our official, legalized heroes. Let’s imagine that tomorrow the nation is destroyed and Washington covered with atomic dust. Excavators, digging in the rubble a hundred years hence, would try to reconstruct our history by studying the public monuments. And there is no better way of interpreting a civilization, living or dead, than through its popularly chosen heroes.

HA

About the Author

Holmes Alexander

Featured Tags

Declaration of Independence

James Buchanan, a one-term President and conspicuous second-rater, has a monument in Washington—one of only seven Presidents to be so honored.

It takes an act of Congress to raise a public outdoor monument in the capital city. The 49 Americans on pedestals in Washington are our official, legalized heroes. Let’s imagine that tomorrow the nation is destroyed and Washington covered with atomic dust. Excavators, digging in the rubble a hundred years hence, would try to reconstruct our history by studying the public monuments. And there is no better way of interpreting a civilization, living or dead, than through its popularly chosen heroes.