Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial - Site Selection

Site Selection

Public Law 107-117 (January 10, 2002) authorized the commission to establish the memorial on lands under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of the Interior. Once established the Eisenhower Memorial will fall under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. The Eisenhower Memorial will be only the seventh national presidential memorial in U.S. history.

A total of 26 sites were identified to the Eisenhower Memorial Commission (EMC) and reviewed during its three-year site selection process. The criteria for choosing a site for the memorial included:

1) Prominence, public access, and availability.

2) Thematic appropriateness to Eisenhower’s memory.

3) Feasibility of use and avoidance of undue controversy.

The commission selected a preferred site, Eisenhower Square, at the base of Capitol Hill, across Independence Avenue from the National Air and Space Museum and north of the United States Department of Education. Eisenhower Square is surrounded by institutions connected to Eisenhower’s legacy including the United States Department of Education, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Aviation Administration, Voice of America, and the National Air and Space Museum.

On November 8, 2005, the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission approved the Eisenhower Memorial Commission's request that the Eisenhower Memorial be located across the street from the National Air and Space Museum just a few blocks from the United States Capitol.