President Donald Trump revealed on Thursday that he had issued an executive order to resurrect his envisioned “National Park of American Heroes.” Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast held at the U.S. Capitol Building, Trump declared, “I have signed an Executive Order to resume the process of creating a new national park full of statues of the greatest Americans who ever lived. We’re going to be honoring our heroes, honoring the greatest people from our country. We’re not gonna be tearing down, we’re gonna be building up.”
This move by Trump marks a significant development, as a similar executive order was signed by him in 2020, only to be overturned by former President Joe Biden in the subsequent year. While the initial order aimed for the completion of the park before the country’s 250th anniversary in 2026, the revised timeline now seeks to expedite the process as much as possible.
The original executive order was issued against the backdrop of nationwide protests decrying systemic racism, some of which led to the toppling of statues associated with contentious historical figures. Furthermore, another aspect of the order reinstates a 2020 directive to safeguard monuments and federal properties from acts of vandalism.
Regarding the composition of the proposed “National Garden of American Heroes,” the original order suggested that the statues should portray a diverse array of “historically significant Americans,” including scientists, civil rights leaders, police officers, labor leaders, judges, authors, and teachers, among others. The directive emphasized that while none of the individuals depicted would have led perfect lives, they would all be deserving of honor, remembrance, and study.
The 2020 order also outlined a list of specific figures to be featured in the garden, such as John Adams, Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Daniel Boone, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Henry Clay, Davy Crockett, Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Benjamin Franklin, Billy Graham, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Douglas MacArthur, Dolley Madison, James Madison, Christa McAuliffe, Audie Murphy, George S. Patton Jr., Ronald Reagan, Jackie Robinson, Betsy Ross, Antonin Scalia, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, George Washington, and Orville and Wilbur Wright.
Trump’s reinstated order now tasks the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy with recommending additional figures to be included in the garden, ultimately aiming to honor a total of 250 individuals. However, neither order specifies a designated location for the park, instead assigning a task force to propose suitable sites. The 2020 order did stipulate that the park should be situated on a site of natural beauty, in proximity to a populated area, and without disrupting the local community.
Contributing to this article were Jason Lalljee and Maureen Groppe from USA TODAY. Kinsey Crowley serves
