McKinley Monument: The Republic
San Francisco, California
The stern face of America's martyred 25th President glowers from a bronze medallion set into the pedestal base of this towering monument, which is topped by a giant, toga-draped woman, "The Republic," holding what appears to be a giant feather (It's actually a palm leaf). The monument, which is the work of Robert S. Aitken, was unveiled in Golden Gate Park in 1904 at the height of McKinley memorial mania.
It appears that most San Franciscans have since forgotten William McKinley, and his fierce stare does not discourage the morons who repeatedly vandalize his pedestal with graffiti and carvings of their own. It's gotten so bad that in 2013 the city planned to erect a seven-foot-high fence around the monument, to protect the 25th President from San Francisco's unappreciative modern-day inhabitants.