Visions of Presidential Candidates: Mt. Rushmore Reimagined
In interviews with ABC News, eight of the Republican presidential contenders were asked who they would choose to go up alongside some of the nation’s greatest presidents on Mount Rushmore.
Some of the choices were predictable: Ronald Reagan, John Adams. Earlier this year Chairman of the Reagan Legacy Project Grover Norquist pushed for adding Reagan as part of the former president’s centennial anniversary.
But others came a little out of left field – for example, Michele Bachmann’s pick of James Garfield , who served but 200 days before being assassinated in 1881.
We took things one step further and put together this graphic to show what the South Dakota landmark would look like with all of the candidates’ visions incorporated.
The leaders flanking the original four are (left to right) Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Ronald Reagan, James Garfield and John Adams. There’s only one choice missing; Herman Cain said the person he would add had not yet been elected.
The original sculpture took 14 years and 27 days to build, according to the National Park Service website. The Park Service finished up annual preservation work on the monument last month, but there are no plans to change the mountain.
CNN reports that in 1997 the College of William and Mary asked applicants who they would add. Answers included John F. Kennedy, Mother Teresa and Oprah Winfrey.