WASHINGTON — The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial opened Thursday in Washington, a long-awaited tribute to his legacy as Supreme Allied Commander in World War II and the 34th president.
But the memorial, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, also honors Eisenhower’s Kansas roots.
The statues of a general and president are joined by a barefoot boy from rural Kansas alongside a quote from a 1945 speech: “The proudest thing that I can claim is that I am from Abilene.”