National Garden of American Heroes

President Donald Trump announcing the garden proposal during Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration in South Dakota on July 3, 2020.

A National Garden of American Heroes was proposed by President Donald Trump in executive orders on July 3, 2020, and January 18, 2021, as a sculpture garden honoring "great figures of America's history".[1] Trump first announced the idea at an Independence Day event at Mount Rushmore in Keystone, South Dakota.[2][3][4] The sculpture garden idea was part of a series of executive orders issued by Trump in his final months in office to address conservative cultural grievances; the second of the two executive orders was issued two days before Trump's term expired.[4] Congress never appropriated funding for such a garden,[5] nor were concrete steps ever taken to construct such a site.[4] President Joe Biden revoked the executive orders relating to the garden in May 2021.[4][6]

Trump's vision for the garden included statues of notable Founding Fathers, activists, political figures, businesspeople, athletes, celebrities, and pop culture icons.[4][7][3][8][9] The premise of the proposal and the selection of statues to be erected was questioned by historians and scholars, who described it as random and scattershot.[10][11][12]

  1. ^ "Executive Order on Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American Heroes". The White House. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  2. ^ Klein, Betsy (July 4, 2020). "Trump uses Mount Rushmore address to rail against removal of monuments". CNN. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "The Latest: Trump to Establish 'National Garden' of Heroes". The New York Times. Associated Press. July 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 6, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e Nick Niedzwiadek, Biden kills Trump's sculpture garden of 'American heroes' Archived July 6, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, Politico (May 14, 2021).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sprunt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Zeke Miller (May 14, 2021). "Biden cancels Trump's planned 'Garden of American Heroes'". Associated Press News. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  7. ^ "Trump announces plans to create national garden honoring "greatest Americans to ever live"". CBS News. July 4, 2020. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  8. ^ "Trump to establish 'National Garden' of heroes". KY3.com. July 4, 2020. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  9. ^ "Amid furor over monuments, Trump seeks 'garden' of US heroes". Associated Press. July 4, 2020. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  10. ^ Hero Statue Nominations For President Donald Trump’s National Garden Of American Heroes Are In Archived April 19, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, CBS Local Pittsburg (August 31, 2020).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Alberti was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ William Wan, Historians question Trump's choice of 'heroes' for national garden monument Archived March 1, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, Washington Post (July 4, 2020).