Last summer, amid Black Lives Matter protests and Confederate statues being taken down, Donald Trump announced plans for the National Garden of American Heroes, which would honor “historically significant” people "who made substantive contributions to America’s public life or otherwise had a substantive effect on America’s history.”
With two days left in his presidency, Trump has just signed a new Executive Order on the building of National Garden of American Heroes and has added many more names to the list of those who would get statues, including a number of musicians. Louis Armstrong, Irving Berlin, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Woody Guthrie, Billie Holiday, Whitney Houston, Francis Scott Key, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and Bessie Smith, all made the cut.
What would these musicians think of Trump including them? Woody Guthrie wrote the lyrics to "Old Man Trump" about Donald's father, Fred Trump, who owned the Beach Haven apartment complex in Gravesend, Brooklyn where Guthrie lived for a while. The opening lines of the song: "I suppose that Old Man Trump knows just how much racial hate / He stirred up in that bloodpot of human hearts / When he drawed that color line / Here at his Beach Haven family project." The lyrics, from 1956, were rediscovered in 2016 and set to music by the band Elevator, whose singer, Johnny Irion, is married to Woody's granddaughter, Sarah Guthrie. The song was also recorded by Ryan Harvey with Ani DiFranco and Tom Morello. You can listen to that below.
Also on the new list: Kobe Bryant, Alex Trebek, Alfred Hitchcock, Muhammad Ali, Julia Child, and Steve Jobs, as well as lots of names you'd expect from Donald Trump, like Ronald Reagan (and many other former presidents), Antonin Scalia, Barry Goldwater, and Walmart founder Sam Walton.
Whether the National Garden of American Heroes will actually get built is another story, but the goal is to be open for the 250th anniversary of the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026. No location for the monument has been named as of yet.
You can see the full list of proposed statues below.
The National Garden of American Heroes proposed statue list: Ansel Adams John Adams Samuel Adams Muhammad Ali Luis Walter Alvarez Susan B. Anthony Hannah Arendt Louis Armstrong Neil Armstrong Crispus Attucks John James Audubon Lauren Bacall Clara Barton Todd Beamer Alexander Graham Bell Roy Benavidez Ingrid Bergman Irving Berlin Humphrey Bogart Daniel Boone Norman Borlaug William Bradford Herb Brooks Kobe Bryant William F. Buckley Jr. Sitting Bull Frank Capra Andrew Carnegie Charles Carroll John Carroll George Washington Carver Johnny Cash Joshua Chamberlain Whittaker Chambers Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman Ray Charles Julia Child Gordon Chung-Hoon William Clark Henry Clay Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) Roberto Clemente Grover Cleveland Red Cloud William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody Nat King Cole Samuel Colt Christopher Columbus Calvin Coolidge James Fenimore Cooper Davy Crockett Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Miles Davis Dorothy Day Joseph H. De Castro Emily Dickinson Walt Disney William “Wild Bill” Donovan Jimmy Doolittle Desmond Doss Frederick Douglass Herbert Henry Dow Katharine Drexel Peter Drucker Amelia Earhart Thomas Edison Jonathan Edwards Albert Einstein Dwight D. Eisenhower Duke Ellington Ralph Waldo Emerson Medgar Evers David Farragut the Marquis de La Fayette Mary Fields Henry Ford George Fox Aretha Franklin Benjamin Franklin Milton Friedman Robert Frost Gabby Gabreski Bernardo de Gálvez Lou Gehrig Theodor Seuss Geisel Cass Gilbert Ruth Bader Ginsburg John Glenn Barry Goldwater Samuel Gompers Alexander Goode Carl Gorman Billy Graham Ulysses S. Grant Nellie Gray Nathanael Greene Woody Guthrie Nathan Hale William Frederick “Bull” HalseyJr. Alexander Hamilton Ira Hayes Hans Christian Heg Ernest Hemingway Patrick Henry Charlton Heston Alfred Hitchcock Billie Holiday Bob Hope Johns Hopkins Grace Hopper Sam Houston Whitney Houston Julia Ward Howe Edwin Hubble Daniel Inouye Andrew Jackson Robert H. Jackson Mary Jackson John Jay Thomas Jefferson Steve Jobs Katherine Johnson Barbara Jordan Chief Joseph Elia Kazan Helen Keller John F. Kennedy Francis Scott Key Coretta Scott King Martin Luther King Jr. Russell Kirk Jeane Kirkpatrick Henry Knox Tadeusz Kościuszko Harper Lee Pierre Charles L’Enfant Meriwether Lewis Abraham Lincoln Vince Lombardi Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Clare Boothe Luce Douglas MacArthur Dolley Madison James Madison George Marshall Thurgood Marshall William Mayo Christa McAuliffe William McKinley Louise McManus Herman Melville Thomas Merton George P. Mitchell Maria Mitchell William “Billy” Mitchell Samuel Morse Lucretia Mott John Muir Audie Murphy Edward Murrow John Neumann Annie Oakley Jesse Owens Rosa Parks George S. Patton Jr. Charles Willson Peale William Penn Oliver Hazard Perry John J. Pershing Edgar Allan Poe Clark Poling John Russell Pope Elvis Presley Jeannette Rankin Ronald Reagan Walter Reed William Rehnquist Paul Revere Henry Hobson Richardson Hyman Rickover Sally Ride Matthew Ridgway Jackie Robinson Norman Rockwell Caesar Rodney Eleanor Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Betsy Ross Babe Ruth Sacagawea Jonas Salk John Singer Sargent Antonin Scalia Norman Schwarzkopf Junípero Serra Elizabeth Ann Seton Robert Gould Shaw Fulton Sheen Alan Shepard Frank Sinatra Margaret Chase Smith Bessie Smith Elizabeth Cady Stanton Jimmy Stewart Harriet Beecher Stowe Gilbert Stuart Anne Sullivan William Howard Taft Maria Tallchief Maxwell Taylor Tecumseh Kateri Tekakwitha Shirley Temple Nikola Tesla Jefferson Thomas Henry David Thoreau Jim Thorpe Augustus Tolton Alex Trebek Harry S. Truman Sojourner Truth Harriet Tubman Dorothy Vaughan C. T. Vivian John von Neumann Thomas Ustick Walter Sam Walton Booker T. Washington George Washington John Washington John Wayne Ida B. Wells-Barnett Phillis Wheatley Walt Whitman Laura Ingalls Wilder Roger Williams John Winthrop Frank Lloyd Wright Orville Wright Wilbur Wright Alvin C. York Cy Young and Lorenzo de Zavala.
