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James Monroe tips his hat.

Statue # 5: James Monroe

Field review by the editors.

Rapid City, South Dakota

America's fifth President (1817-1825) is best known for his "hands off the Western Hemisphere" Monroe Doctrine, but geopolitics is difficult to make appealing in a bronze statue. Instead, sculptors Lee Leuning and Sherri Treeby crafted their Monroe figure as an expression of his good manners and affable personality. The President stands, resting one hand on a cane, tipping his top hat to passers-by. Vandals -- perhaps opposed to civility -- stole Monroe's cane in the early 2000s, but it has since been replaced.

Amazing Arcana of the Presidents

James Monroe tips his hat.

Monroe was the most prominent member of the African Colonization Society, whose goal was to convince America's free blacks to move to Africa.

[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.

Roadside Presidents
Roadside Presidents App for iPhone. Find this attraction and more: museums, birthplaces, graves of the Chief Execs, first ladies, pets, assassins and wannabes. Prez bios and oddball trivia. Available on the App Store.

Also see: America's Street Corner Presidents

Statue # 5: James Monroe

Address:
699 Main St., Rapid City, SD
Directions:
Downtown. Southeast corner of Main and 7th Sts.
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Nearby Offbeat Places

Statue # 6: John Quincy AdamsStatue # 6: John Quincy Adams, Rapid City, SD - < 1 mi.
Statue #36: Lyndon B. JohnsonStatue #36: Lyndon B. Johnson, Rapid City, SD - < 1 mi.
Statue # 3: Thomas JeffersonStatue # 3: Thomas Jefferson, Rapid City, SD - < 1 mi.
In the region:
World's Largest Wooden Bigfoot, Keystone, SD - 16 mi.

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