Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial

This outdoor memorial to Dwight D Eisenhower features some statuary showing the former commander and President as a boy, as the D-Day commander, and as POTUS, with excerpts from his speeches behind each scene to get a snippet of the man and the times. The grain silos of Abilene in the foreground with a screen featuring the coast of France in the background provides a collection of this artist’s rendition of this bulwark of US history. The park has a self guided tour which provides great detail of Eisenhower’s history and accomplishments. The store has a host of knickknacks and also cold drinks for sale. Definitely worth a stop!

This is one of the newest memorials, and probably doesn’t get as many visitors since it’s a few blocks off the mall. It does have public restrooms which is a big plus. The statues and quotes seem to do a good job capturing Eisenhower, and it’s an impressively large monument that takes up most of a block. For all of its size, the visual appeal just wasn’t there for me. I never felt like I knew where I should be looking, or what perspective or significance was meant by the giant pillars throughout and the giant screen lining the back. Not my favorite from a design standpoint, but still a worthy subject to commemorate.

The best element of this memorial is the bronze sculpture of Ike as a boy, when he was innocent. The entire structure seems like it was designed by Soviet architects, which makes it somewhat comical if it weren't so massive. Eisenhower was a great war leader. As president he approved the overthrow of several rising democracies and the assassination of several leaders. He allowed an evil Alan Dulles and the CIA far too much freedom. The memorial pretends none of this happened. Giant monuments like this to a very flawed and racist President (read what he said about Africans) are obscene. We need a memorial to the victims of the CIA, not this monstrosity. It's a good place to eat a sandwich and ponder injustice.

Eisenhower is my favorite president. I was about to rate this memorial 5 stars but after reading a few of the comments here and articles on the Eisenhower family's opposition to the memorial I will have to say that I agree with what they said. I cannot figure out the art on the tapestry. It looks like someone just scribbled a bunch and then called it art and/or the Cliffs of Normandy. The memorial was also relatively small and wish there was at least one more statue with one of his quotes (similar to the ones with him as Supreme Commander and President). I also was unsure about the symbolism of the 2 marble columns at either corner of the memorial. Many unfamiliar with the reason for the tall grass (which represents the prairies of Kansas) may confuse it with the grounds being unkempt. Gift shop and restrooms were nice.

This is one of the newest memorials, and probably doesn’t get as many visitors since it’s a few blocks off the mall. It does have public restrooms which is a big plus. The statues and quotes seem to do a good job capturing Eisenhower, and it’s an impressively large monument that takes up most of a block. For all of its size, the visual appeal just wasn’t there for me. I never felt like I knew where I should be looking, or what perspective or significance was meant by the giant pillars throughout and the giant screen lining the back. Not my favorite from a design standpoint, but still a worthy subject to commemorate.