I was in DC a couple of weekends ago, and didn’t see anything remotely resembling a real monument to one of our greatest American Heroes Teddy Roosevelt. FDR had something so incredible, it made me wonder why Teddy had none. I asked some park rangers, they didn’t know why. I visited Sagamore Hill today (Teddy’s home otherwise known as the second white house during his presidency) and the rangers there didn’t know why either. He was an extraordinary man, one of my heroes, a role model i have looked up to for most of my life. He overcame so many odds in his life from his own sickness and frail childhood to becoming the head of the rough riders and taker of San Juan Hill, hunter extraordinaire, family man, dealt with the loss of his brother to suicide, two wives; one during her first birth, two children; one to battle, one to disease, his mother and first wife both on the same day, valentines day, and he completely revamped the police in NYC during his time as commisioner here, as governor he reformed the cities politics, cleaned out the system so to speak, as president and vice president and head of the navy he worked hard to protect the working man, and all he gets really is a statue in Boston i know of and his face on Rushmore. So anyone know what gives? He was one of Americas Heroes or so i thought, why wouldn’t he be honored with a real memorial in DC among the great monuments there? Anyone got the dope on that?
The simplest answer is that there’s no more room. Really and truly, it’s necessary to make some arbitrary choices at some point. If everyone important had their own memorial, D.C. would look like a statuary garden. As is, there are still a lot of statues hanging around from the Civil War of generals that no one remembers anymore. Please, please, please, for the love of God, people, D.C. does not have the space for a monument to everybody.
Hey, SS, I see from your bio that you’re from NYC. Don’t forget the very impressive statue in front of the American Museum of Natural History on 80th Street and Central Park West.
BTW, the park in which the museum is sitting, I believe, is named for TR, and there’s also a nice – but tired – little exhibit about him inside the museum. And surely you know about his birthplace on 20th Street.
Speaking of Sagamore, last time I was there I was amused by the New York State historical marker on the roadway near the entrance. It says something like “Home of TR, Governor of New York State, President of the United States…” I found it funny that they felt obligated to list “governor” first.
There is a Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. I think that should count for something.
TR died during WWI, right when America was given the opportunity to erect a whole bunch more statues of new war heroes.
The Theodore Roosevelt Memorial is on Theodore Roosevelt Island on the D.C. side of the Potomac River. There is also a Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge that carries I-66 over the Potomac and which touches on T.R. Island.
This site describes the memorial and includes a small phot of the statue there. There is also a river in Brazil named after him and a subspecies of elk.
thanx bibliophage, that’s exactly what i was looking for. appreciate it.
stuyguy, i know about all the NYC stuff, i was curious as to why i didn’t see anything in DC, where i would imagine more of it belongs. thanx tho, i believe the governor thing comes first 'cause NY needs to place itself at the top of the list, or perhaps it’s in order of terms of service. He was also police commisioner in NYC, but they don’t list that do they. 
Let’s not forget that Theodore Roosevelt is also portrayed on Mount Rushmore.
Let’s not forget to read the OP.
I say we get up a petition to knock down Wendell’s house to make room for the Warren G. Harding Memorial Rotunda, complete with 47-foot statue, line of cast-bronze chorus girls, and Bingo Lounge.
Warren G. Harding. His Time is Now.
Ukulele Ike writes:
> I say we get up a petition to knock down Wendell’s house
> to make room for the Warren G. Harding Memorial Rotunda,
> complete with 47-foot statue, line of cast-bronze chorus
> girls, and Bingo Lounge.
Great! First, buy me a house, and then have the federal government declare eminent domain on the land so they will have to pay me some outrageously inflated sum for it. Meanwhile, I’m starting the Harding Appreciation Society. Our motto is: “Keep Presidential sex in the closet. Doing it in the Oval Office itself is so gauche.”
While we’re at it, I’d really like a James K. Polk Memorial Pool Hall.
Seriously, though, as BobT pointed out, he has a National Park named after him - what’s more, it’s the ONLY US nat. park named after a person.
The OP, MY OP, was asking about in the DC area. thats all.