History And Facts About The Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial is one of the most important landmarks in Washington DC. But how much do you actually know about it? Join me as we explore history and facts about the Lincoln Memorial.
11. Timing Wasn't Everything Here
When it comes to making certain things in the world, especially monuments that are meant to be honoring certain figures, it's important to start them, and open them, in a timely manner, or on an important date for the person you're honoring. President Abraham Lincoln died via assassination in 1865. So you would think that the country who truly loved this President would want to honor him as quickly as possible, right?
Well...yes and no. To their credit, within two years of the of Abraham Lincoln, Congress had ordered the formation of a group called the Lincoln Monument Association to oversee and create a monument that was truly worthy of the former President.
And again, to their credit, they started immediately looking for people who would be able to craft such a monument. However, that's kind of where things fell off the rails as it were. You see, while everyone could agree that Lincoln NEEDED a monument, they couldn't agree on what kind of monument they needed. Or what it should be like. What it should say. The positioning of Lincoln and so on and so forth.
It's all incredibly petty to be honest with you, but it gets worse. You see, usually squabbles last a few months, maybe a few years at max. The association came together in 1867, but the actual construction on the project didn't begin until 1914! That's a LONG time of squabbling. But wait, it gets better.
While parts of the monument were completed by 1917, the monument wasn't completed in full and opened to the public until 1922 due to World War I and the aftermath following it.
Imagine how much older the monument would be if they had been able to set aside their differences and get it done quicker?
10. The Original Version Of The Statue Was MUCH Different
Ok, I want you right now to picture what the Lincoln Memorial looks like. No cheating! Just get an image in your mind of how Lincoln looks, the setting he's in, the look of the entire memorial, etc. When you think about the grand image of it all...do you notice that it looks rather...simple? Think about it, the monument is just Lincoln sitting down in a chair under some famous words that he said.
It's very simple, very elegant, and very much like Lincoln. BUT, that wasn't the original concept for the statue. You see, during the period of time when they were doing the squabbling about how the statue should look, they honestly did hire a guy to make the statue.
His name was Clark Mills, and he had earned the right to try and design the monument after he had done an impressive cast of Lincoln's head not long after his . He also did a legendary Andrew Jackson statue.
But in terms of his "vision" for the statue, it " involved a 12-foot likeness of Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation and a collection of 36 bronze figures (six on horseback) all housed within a 70-foot structure."
That's a very stark contrast to what the statue we have now is. That's almost like a whole menagerie that is celebrating one person. Which would be fair given Lincoln's status as a President of history, but still.
Needless to say, that vision for the project was turned down, and the more simpler design was (eventually) approved.
9. Location, Location, Location
As we've already outlined pretty well for you, the Lincoln Memorial had many problems in terms of its construction. But another one came from a very unique source, and for a very fair and logical reason. You see, the memorial project was shut down for a bit because no one would agree on anything for it. Eventually, the association was brought back together, but even then they had issues from people trying to shut it down. Such as the current Speaker of the House Joe Cannon. This was a man who did not want the monument built for a whole host of reasons.
For example, Cannon was a man who didn't feel that the government should be spending a whole lot of money on monuments like these. Which is fair when you think about it. But, at the time of the new proposals, one of the places that they wanted to put the statue was at West Potomac Park.
“So long as I live,” he once told Secretary of War Elihu Root, “I'll never let a memorial to Abraham Lincoln be erected in that g-------d swamp.”
Eventually, he did help approve the project after some concessions were made, and now the Lincoln Memorial stands at the west end of National Park, where the surrounding areas are quite beautiful. So much so that the memorial is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Washington DC.
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8. Location, Location, Location Part 2