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Obama Names Critic To Eisenhower Memorial Panel

By: Jessica Jordan
September 3, 2013
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The current Eisenhower Memorial design features a statue of the 34th president and 80-foot-tall metal tapestries bearing images of his childhood home.
Eisenhower Memorial Commission
The current Eisenhower Memorial design features a statue of the 34th president and 80-foot-tall metal tapestries bearing images of his childhood home.

President Obama is getting involved in stalled plans to build a memorial honoring President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The President is appointing Bruce Cole, a known critic of the Eisenhower Memorial design, to serve on the federal commission that oversees the project.

Cole was the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities under President George W. Bush.

He has published articles criticizing architect Frank Gehry's memorial design, which calls for statues of Eisenhower and metal tapestries depicting the president's life. Cole writes that Gery's design would be a "monumental farce'' and "a cross between an amusement park and a golf course.''

The project has been on hold for more than a year, after members of Eisenhower's family and other groups raised objections to the design concept.

Cole is Obama's first appointment to the commission.

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