On a road trip in May of 2022, we found ourselves in Rapid City, South Dakota. We had visited Mt. Rushmore on a previous visit but had never checked out what they call the City of Presidents. This is a series of life-sized bronze statues located among the city and streets of downtown Rapid City. According to their site, The City of Presidents project began in 2000 to honor the legacy of the American presidency. Each sculpture is privately funded, and the pattern of placement was chosen to maintain an orderly structure and eliminate any sense of favoritism or political gain. The City of Presidents is part of the Rapid City Historic District Tour. This is part 4 of a 5 part series on these amazing statues and includes US Presidential statues 1913-1969. I hope you enjoy the series as much as I enjoyed learning a lot about our former Presidents while doing research.
US Presidential Statues 1913-1969 include former presidents:
- Woodrow Wilson
- Warren G Harding
- Calvin Coolidge
- Herbert Hoover
- Franklin D Roosevelt
- Harry S. Truman
- Dwight D Eisenhower
- John F. Kennedy
- Lyndon B. Johnson
Woodrow Wilson
Twenty-Eighth President
Date of Birth – December 28, 1856
Birthplace – Staunton, Virginia
Education – College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), graduated 1879.
Career – Professor, College Administration, Public Official
Political Party – Democratic
Nickname – “Schoolmaster in Politics”
Date of Inauguration – March 4, 1913
Date Ended – March 4, 1921
Date of Death – February 3, 1924
Burial place – National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.
Quote – “America was established not to create wealth but to realize a vision, to realize an ideal – to discover and maintain liberty among men.”
Warren G. Harding
Twenty-Ninth President
Date of Birth – November 2, 1865
Birthplace – Corsica (now Blooming Grove), Ohio
Education – Ohio Central College (graduated 1882)
Career – Editor-Publisher
Political Party – Republican
Nickname –
Date of Inauguration – March 4, 1921
Date Ended – August 2, 1923
Date of Death – August 2, 1923
Burial place – Harding Memorial, Marion, Ohio
Quote – “Treat your friend as if he will one day be your enemy, and your enemy as if he will one day be your friend.”
Calvin Coolidge
Thirtieth President
Date of Birth – July 4, 1872
Birthplace – Plymouth Notch, Vermont
Education – Amherst College (graduated 1895)
Career – Lawyer
Political Party – Republican
Nickname – “Silent Cal”
Date of Inauguration – August 2, 1923
Date Ended – March 4, 1929
Date of Death – January 5, 1933
Burial place – Plymouth Notch, Vermont
Quote – “All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.”
Herbert Hoover
Thirty-First President
Date of Birth – August 10, 1874
Birthplace – West Branch, Iowa
Education – Stanford University (graduated 1895)
Career – Engineer
Political Party – Republican
Nickname –
Date of Inauguration – March 4, 1929
Date Ended – March 4, 1933
Date of Death – October 20, 1964
Burial place – West Branch, Iowa
Quote – “Within the soul of America is freedom of mind and spirit in man. Here alone are the open windows through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit. Here alone is human dignity not a dream but an accomplishment. Perhaps it is not perfect, but it is more full in realization here than any other place in the world.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Thirty-Second President
Date of Birth – January 30, 1882
Birthplace – Hyde Park, New York
Education – Harvard College (graduated 1903), Columbia Law School
Career – Public Official, Lawyer
Political Party – Democrat
Nickname – “FDR”
Date of Inauguration – March 4, 1933
Date Ended – April 12, 1945
Date of Death – April 12, 1945
Burial place – Hyde Park, New York
Quote – “In these days of difficulty, we Americans must and shall choose the path of social justice… the path of faith, the path of hope and the path of love toward our fellow man.”
Harry S. Truman
Thirty-Third President
Date of Birth – May 8, 1884
Birthplace – Lamar, MO
Education –
Career – Farmer, Businessman, Public Official
Political Party – Democrat
Nickname – “Give ’Em Hell Harry”
Date of Inauguration – April 12, 1945
Date Ended – January 20, 1953
Date of Death -December 26, 1972
Burial place – Independence, MO
Quote – “Whether discrimination is based on race, or creed, or color, or land of origin, it is utterly contrary to American ideals of democracy.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Thirty-Fourth President
Date of Birth – October 14, 1890
Birthplace – Denison, Texas
Education – U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York (graduated 1915)
Career – Soldier
Political Party – Republican
Nickname – “Ike”
Date of Inauguration – January 20, 1953
Date Ended – January 20, 1961
Date of Death -March 28, 1969
Burial place – Abilene, Kansas
Quote – “This world of ours… must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.”
John F. Kennedy
Thirty-Fifth President
Date of Birth – May 29, 1917
Birthplace – Brookline, Massachusetts
Education – Harvard (1940)
Career – Author, U.S. Navy Officer, Journalist, Public Official
Political Party – Democrat
Nickname – “JFK,” “Jack”
Date of Inauguration – January 20, 1961
Date Ended – November 22, 1963
Date of Death -November 22, 1963
Burial place – Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
Quote – “My fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”
Lyndon B. Johnson
Thirty-Sixth President
Date of Birth – August 27, 1908
Birthplace – Johnson City, Texas
Education – Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Texas State University-San Marcos), graduated 1930; Georgetown Law School, attended 1934
Career – Teacher, Public Official
Political Party – Democrat
Nickname – “LBJ”
Date of Inauguration – November 22, 1963
Date Ended – January 20, 1969
Date of Death -January 22, 1973
Burial place – Near Johnson City, Texas
Quote – “We have talked long enough in this country about equal rights. It is time now to write the next chapter – and to write it in the books of law.”
US Presidential Statues 1913-1969
We had a great time checking out the US Presidential Statues 1913-1969 while in Rapid City. Here is a link to a map of which presidents are included in the City of Presidents, and on which street corners they can be found. If you are in the area, it is a fun adventure. One thing to note, a server at a restaurant shared that during the winter people will put gloves, hats, scarves, etc on the statues for the homeless people to take and use. I thought that was quite kind of the people of Rapid City. Please come back Wednesday for the final list of US Presidents from 1969-2017.
Here are the links to my earlier posts on this series:
US Presidential Statues 1789-1841
US Presidential Statues 1841-1877
US Presidential Statues 1877-1913
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, thanks for sharing!!
Your series is so interesting. Just posting these little tidbits brings the history of our country alive. Thank you!
So cool! I never heard of this. Maybe they should continue the series to the present day.