What do you know about the Rushmore Presidents?
Did you know that the idea of making a sculpture in the Black Hills was to attract tourists to the state? Little did he know, Mr. Doane Robinson, because the idea worked wonders, and Mount Rushmore is in the present day one of the most visited sites in America (nearly 3 million people visit it annually).
But how did the Rushmore Presidents manage to be sculpted there, you might ask? Well, Robinson’s idea was to sculpt Western figures like Lewis and Clark, Oglala Lakota, or Bill Cody. But the four figures were chosen by the Danish-American sculptor Gutzon Borglum.
The first president, George Washington, was picked to symbolize the nation’s founding; Thomas Jefferson was the symbol of the country’s growth through the Louisiana Purchase; Abraham Lincoln to represent his contribution to maintaining the union; and Theodore Roosevelt to represent the country’s industrial development.
There is much more to each of these well-known individuals’ stories than just their significant contributions to the nation’s history. Curious for more? Here are six fascinating facts about the Presidents of Mount Rushmore that everyone should know.
George Washington
The first of the Rushmore Presidents is the one and only George Washington, about whom tons of stories, history books, and even movies or documentaries were written. But let’s get a bit further into the details, more than what’s been widely spread. Even though he was an important figure in American history, George Washington wasn’t exactly raised with a superior education.
He was born in 1732 into a plantation family in Virginia, and he only attended formal schooling until he was a preteen. When Washington’s father passed away when he was only eleven years old, there wasn’t much money left over to pay for his education. Therefore, he was primarily self-taught and received private tutoring, but despite that, he was always interested in learning new things. He was very passionate about military- strategy-based books, which were the basis for his future military career and, of course, the presidency as well.
Throughout his life, Washington felt ashamed of his lack of formal education and frequently compared himself to other people who had this opportunity. It’s important to note that, among other facts, George Washington was the first to sign the U.S. Constitution. Washington visited Philadelphia in 1787 to participate in a convention that was set up to offer changes for the Confederacy.
After four months, he was unanimously elected to lead the Constitutional Convention. As convention president, Washington was given the unique honor of being the first to sign this governing document.
One of the best things about George Washington is that he was the only slave-owning President who freed his slaves.
Thomas Jefferson
The second of the Rushmore Presidents is Thomas Jefferson. Even though he was always passionate about architecture, he was never formally trained in this field. The majority of things he learned about it were from a book he got in his first year at the College of William and Mary.
Jefferson studied European architecture while he was the United States minister to France from 1785 to 1789. He focused mainly on classical and Palladian styles. He put his knowledge to good use by creating some recognizable American structures that are still standing.
After he returned to the U.S. he tried to apply everything he learned abroad. For example, his own house in Virginia, Monticello, is among his most well-known architectural achievements. In addition, he created the famous Rotunda at the University of Virginia and the Virginia State Capitol building in Richmond, which is regarded as one of the country’s first neoclassical structures. The beautiful and intimate Poplar Forest, one of Jefferson’s many octagonal designs, was the only one completed and his vacation home in Virginia.
He was also a great farmer because he thought that the United States should be an agrarian society, partly because this would help the country become independent of other countries. It’s also interesting to note that he was among the first American farmers to use crop rotation and to improve the efficiency of the plowing.
Theodore Roosevelt
One of the most influential presidents in White House history, Theodore Roosevelt earned a place on Mount Rushmore alongside the other three. As a child in New York City, Theodore grew up with asthma, and his father urged him to strengthen himself to counteract the body’s deteriorating effects. Roosevelt had changed into a confident and physically fit athlete by the time he left for Harvard University. His asthma symptoms mostly went away as he settled into his role on the boxing ring and wrestling mat.
Roosevelt left Columbia Law School without earning a degree, but he did graduate from Harvard. Roosevelt had lost interest in pursuing a career in law and had instead turned his attention to local politics, eventually to the presidency.
He was so passionate about sports that even after he was elected as U.S. president, he regularly boxed at the White House, and only after he suffered a detached retina in the left eye that led to blindness did he give up boxing entirely, switching to jiu-jitsu.
In the article, I managed to present just a glimpse of the story behind the Rushmore Presidents, but if you’re interested in reading more about how this gigantic monument was made, I recommend this book. The Carving of Mount Rushmore is one of the few books that tells the honest and complete story of Rushmore. Author Rex Alan Smith, who was born and raised near Rushmore, tells the ongoing struggles of sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his workers with the sensitivity of a native son, and more than 60 black-and-white photographs provide unique perspectives of this gigantic work.
Abraham Lincoln
Did you think I was done? No, no, the next famous figure carved in Mount Rushmore is the 16th American President, Abraham Lincoln. Similar to the other three former presidents, there are a couple of interesting facts about Lincoln that are good to know.
The Secret Service was established by legislation signed by President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, a couple of days before he was tragically shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. However, the goal of the new department at the time was to fight counterfeit money, not to offer presidential protection.
Lincoln met with inventors showcasing military prototypes at the White House and witnessed artillery and cannon tests during the Civil War. He even test-fired repeating rifles and muskets on the grassy areas surrounding the White House, now known as the National Mall and the Ellipse, despite the District of Columbia’s ban on gunfire.
Among all the good things he did for the nation, he was also the first president to support granting voting rights to African-American veterans. No matter how famous and loved other former Presidents were, until now nobody could beat Lincoln; in the present day there are more than 18,000 books devoted to him.
What else do you know about these Presidents that is less known to others? Let me know in the comments below.
You may also want to read about Unbelievable! These 10 US Presidents Were Pro-Slavery.
