United States presidential memorials are created to honor and perpetuate the legacy of United States presidents.

Living and physical elements

A presidential memorial may have a physical element which consists of a physical monument or a statue within a monument. Its entire presence consists of a physical structure that is a permanent remembrance of the president it represents. Most of the presidential memorials we know best, such as the Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson memorials, have a physical element.

There are also official presidential memorials that have a living element with no physical presence. An example of a presidential living memorial is the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Located in Washington, DC, the Wilson Center has no physical public presence, but operates from leased space to unite the world of ideas to the world of policy by supporting scholarship linked to issues of contemporary importance. In this way the living memorial perpetuates President Wilson’s legacy of scholarship linked closely to international relations.^* This can also be accomplished through the establishment of a policy institute, like the Eisenhower Institute whose mandate is to advance Eisenhower's intellectual and leadership legacies through research, public education, and public policy recommendations.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is an example of an official presidential memorial that has both a physical element, a striking building in Washington, DC, and a living element, an ongoing series of live theatrical performances, presented in the name of a fallen president.

Existing presidential memorials

• Washington Monument
• Jefferson Memorial
• Lincoln Memorial
• Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site
• Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
• Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
• Lincoln Home National Historic Site
• Ford's Theatre National Historic Site
• Lincoln's Tomb
• Mount Rushmore National Memorial
• Ulysses S. Grant Memorial
• Grant's Tomb
• James A. Garfield National Historic Site^*
• Theodore Roosevelt Island
• Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
• John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

Planned presidential memorials

• The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial is currently being planned for Washington, D.C.
• A Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial outside of Washington, D.C. is anticipated to be constructed on Roosevelt Island in New York City.

See also

• Presidential library
• United States Memorials
• National Historic Landmark
• National Register of Historic Places
• War memorial
• memorial
• monument

Buildings and monuments honoring American Presidents | Monuments and memorials in the United States