Statue # 9: William Henry Harrison

Rapid City, South Dakota

America's shortest-serving President -- he died of pneumonia after only a month in office -- William Henry Harrison (1841-1841) has the most grandiose of the 40+ President statues on the streets of Rapid City. Seated atop a classical pedestal, Harrison wears a sweeping cape and holds in his lap a large hat with a feathered plume. According to Dallerie Davis, co-founder of the City of Presidents project, Harrison's ornate 1812 general's uniform, coupled with the pedestal and his Roman emperor haircut, leads some visitors to conclude that he's Julius Caesar, not America's ninth President.

The bronze figure was sculpted by artist John Lopez

Amazing Arcana of the Presidents

Congress voted to give Harrison's widow the right to mail letters for free.

[Discover more fascinating details in the Roadside Presidents iPhone app!]

City of Presidents

Since 2000, Rapid City has commissioned and installed bronze statues of every former U.S. President on its downtown street corners. Visitors are encouraged to take a walking tour of the City of Presidents and inspect the nation's metallic Commanders in Chief. Paper guides are available year-round at the city's main Visitor Center at 512 Main St.