Statue #13: Millard Fillmore
Rapid City, South Dakota
Six different artists sculpted the 40+ bronze President statues on the street corners of Rapid City. According to Dallerie Davis, co-founder of the City of Presidents project, "If one of them wasn't cooperating I threatened them with having to do Millard Fillmore." James Van Nuys eventually got the job, and sculpted the unwanted Fillmore (1850-1853) sitting in a chair with an annoyed look, apparently interrupted while reading the book in his hands, "Uncle Tom's Cabin." It's hard to say how he regarded Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, an eye-opening glimpse at the conditions of slavery. Fillmore's support of the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act ensured that he would end up on the wrong side of the street, and of History.
Amazing Arcana of the Presidents
Despite Fillmore's lack of appeal among South Dakota sculptors, England's Queen Victoria said he was the most handsome man she'd ever met.
[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.