Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial — Local services in Washington

The planning and design were controversial, and even with the Eisenhower family's opposition the project went forward anyway. Frank Gehry's design, in physical form, remains both overly-grandiose and simultaneously underwhelming.

Two large blocks highlight only his inauguration + farewell speeches on one, and his D-Day speech on the other; the text of each in word vomit form. Tall screens were supposed to have designs on them, but from every angle and distance they appear as scribbles & loom hulking above (though to be fair: the adjacent Department of Education Building isn't much to look at, either. The site of this memorial is itself highly lacking).

The upper area alongside the Dept of Ed Bldg is not at all integrated with the lower area. It feels like there should be more up there, or you should get a good additional view to read the inscriptions... but the tall and wide barrier-railings block most of the view. The upper area is really just a lunch plaza for Dept of Ed workers. It could've been more.

The two free-standing columns have the look of air vents. Even the trees are weirdly positioned in relation to the memorial: blocking views and detracting instead of complimenting and enhancing.

At its September 2020 dedication the President -exhibiting the very opposite character of Eisenhower- directed modern fighter jets to fly over the memorial of a man especially prominent for his criticising and warning of the Military-Industrial Complex.

Along every step of the way this memorial has repeatedly insulted the very man it's intended to honor. Its presentation attempts to be larger than life for someone who demonstrated the very opposite, and even then it doesn't do "larger than life" very well, either.

Go see Lawrence Halprin's FDR Memorial: a much better example of what this...

It is a humble, and majestic tribute to a great general and president. This outside memorial, conveniently located on the Mall across from the Air and Space museum, can be easily overlooked. (It replaced part of Maryland Ave, which actually has operational traffic signals that give a green light, which two cars obeyed and crashed over the curb onto the grassy portion of the exhibit while we were there! I need to report this to local government after I write this.) The statues and the usual quotes were impressive, and his prophetic warning about the future regarding the military industrial complex was on target. Not withstanding the delay in the opening of this Memorial because of a dispute between the Family and the Commission, and thankful it finally opened, I was most disappointed at the display of the skyline of the coast of Normandy. We visited late afternoon to see it in daylight, and after dinner at a nearby restaurant, we returned to see the lighted coastline. Initially we thought the lighting was not on, only to learn the lighting was indirect and quite anticlimactic. Maybe we had high expectations. We lamented this observation with some fellow visitors, who shared our disappointment. However, putting this slight disappointment aside, it us a nice memorial. There is a gift shop with restrooms, and a Park Ranger talk, and the entire Memorial can be visited easily...

After decades and dripping with delays and controversy, the Eisenhower Memorial opened on Thursday, September 17, 2020 just off the National Mall in front of the U.S. Department of Education.

The memorial itself is one big open space with multiple entry points. If you come in from the east on the National Mall side, you'll begin with the statue of a young Eisenhower. As you continue, you'll hit a memorial in honor of General Eisenhower and then another for President Eisenhower. Walk further past the giant tapestry of the Normandy coastline and Eisenhower quotes and you'll hit the small gift shop and public restrooms.

The memorial itself is designed with views of the nearby U.S. Capitol Building and with plenty of benches for resting. There's a free audio tour you can do on your smartphone. Also, the fact that they have public restrooms is HUGE! It will be an asset to tourists and local runners needing a...