Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a memorial was built in Washington, D.C., in honor of Thomas Jefferson. It was built between 1939 and 1943 under the sponsorship of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt felt that the Memorial Grounds served as a fitting memorial to the Founding Fathers of the United States, as well as to Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the founder of the Democratic-Republican Party.

The neoclassical building is located in West Potomac Park along the shore of the Potomac River. The structure was designed by architect John Russell Pope and built by Philadelphia contractor John McShain. Construction started in 1939 and was finished in 1943. In 1947, a new bronze statue of Jefferson was added to the memorial. Pope also mentioned the Pantheon in reference to his own design for the rotunda at the University of Virginia, and Jefferson had previously considered design ideas for a Pantheon for the Vatican.

Other nearby landmarks include the Jefferson Memorial and the White House, which both anchor one of the main points of the National Mall in D.C. The original location for the Washington Monument was intended to be at the intersection of the White House and the site for the Jefferson Memorial, but it was impossible to construct at that location because of the soft ground in the swamp.