Statue #10: John Tyler

Rapid City, South Dakota

John Tyler (1841-1845) was an unloved President who ended his career as a traitorous Senator for the Confederacy. Trying to find something nice for Tyler's statue, sculptor Lee Leuning gave him a fiddle, because Tyler liked to play it at family gatherings. "He wasn't a very attractive man," said Dallerie Davis, co-founder of the City of Presidents project. "We tried to be gracious and make him a little more attractive." But when Tyler's descendants saw the clay model of the statue, they said no, he didn't look like that. So Tyler was made more homely, with a smaller head and bigger nose.

Amazing Arcana of the Presidents

Despite his physical unattractiveness, Tyler sired 15 children, a presidential record.

[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.