This gem on the National Mall is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president and author of the Declaration of Independence. The Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial built in Washington, D.C., 1939-1943 under the sponsorship of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. For Roosevelt it was a suitable memorial to a Founding Father of the United States, and the founder of the Democratic Party. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826).
A Pantheon Among the Cherry Blossoms Situated on the Tidal Basin among the Japanese flowering cherry trees, the Jefferson Memorial is the perfect place to experience peak bloom.
The original statue of Thomas Jefferson in the Jefferson Memorial was made of plaster. Poor guy! That’s because metal was rationed during World War II. After the war, it was replaced with the 19-foot-tall bronze statue that stands today.
