FDR claimed not to want it, 40 years of bickering delayed it, and now that it's here, there's still argument about it. Despite all that, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial is almost ready for visitors.
The clamor to build a memorial to the only president elected to four terms began days after his death on April 12, 1945. But it was nearly 50 years later, in October 1994, that construction started. In the meantime, the capital's only official remembrance to FDR is a 39-inch-high marble block, flanked by greenery, in front of the National Archives.That's how Roosevelt wanted it.
"We should let sleeping heroes lie," he said.
"If any memorial is erected to me, I know exactly what I should like it to be," Roosevelt told Justice Felix Frankfurter. Putting his hand on his desk, Roosevelt said, "I should like it to consist of a block about the size of this, and placed in the center of that green plot in front of the Archives Building.
"I don't care what it is made of, whether limestone or granite or whatever, but I want it plain without any ornamentation, with the simple carving `In Memory of --.' That is all."
The new memorial, to be dedicated May 2, is much more than that. It sits on 7.5 acres and consists of a series of four outdoor garden "rooms," each symbolizing an FDR presidential term, a walk-through historical narrative of the years 1933 to 1945.
Room one is Roosevelt's inauguration period; room two focuses on the condition of America during the Depression and FDR's New Deal. Room three covers World War II, and the last room symbolizes the transition to peace, which FDR set in place but did not live to see. The war in Europe ended less than a month after Roosevelt's death.
The design is by architect Lawrence Halprin, whose work includes San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square, Seattle's Freeway Park and the Walter & Elise Haas Promenade, a 11/2-mile stone walkway overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem.
"Halprin really unveils the memorial as you walk through," said Tom Fitzpatrick, a civil engineer for the U.S. Park Service who was in charge of construction. "You are a participant in the memorial. It's not temple-like, something to be in awe of."
Unusual for such an edifice, the memorial also will honor Eleanor Roosevelt, the highly visible first lady who acted as her husband's eyes and ears in her travels and also as his liberal conscience.
There has been controversy over whether Roosevelt should be depicted in a wheelchair, given that he went to great lengths to conceal his disability. None of the monument's three statues of Roosevelt suggests a wheelchair or the steel braces he wore.
But the references to his disability are there. On the wall in room four, in a listing of significant events, is this inscription: "1921, Stricken with Poliomyelitis. He never again walked unaided." And in the memorial's entry building is an exact replica of one of FDR's wheelchairs; nearby is one of two known photographs of him in one.
Sixteen of Roosevelt's 29 grandchildren issued a statement last week calling for greater representation of FDR's disability and expressing concern that divisions over the issue "will seriously detract from and disrupt the memorial's public dedication ceremonies."
The memorial is on a spit of land east of the Lincoln Memorial, between the Tidal Basin where the cherry blossoms bloom and the Potomac River.
Its walls are flesh-colored granite, native to the South Dakota and Minnesota border. The finish of the walls at the start of the memorial is fine but it coarsens and at the end appears to be coming off, representing FDR's deterioration.
It may have been long in coming, but the memorial is in a spectacular setting. From room four, visitors can see the White House, the Wash-ington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. Seen from the entrance is the Lincoln Memorial.
Most of all, the monument captures the spirit of a president who appeared larger than life to many Americans suffering under twin calamities, the Depression and World War II.
A niche with a radio recalls his fireside chats, FDR's broadcasts to calm a hemorrhaging nation; bronze statues of men in coveralls, standing in bread lines, the despair of the country.
The memorial cost $48 million, $42.5 million from a federal appropriation and the rest from private sources.
It is the first memorial in the nation's capital purposely designed to be wheelchair accessible. As it should be.