An unexpected proposal has emerged from the White House, calling for a towering 30‑foot statue of George Washington to be installed outside the National Museum of American History. The plan would see the current abstract stainless‑steel work Infinity by José de Rivera, a fixture since 1967, removed in favor of a more literal homage to the nation’s first president.

The suggested monument would dwarf the 19‑foot seated Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial and even surpass the Martin Luther King Jr. statue that greets the National Museum of African American History. Inside the museum’s Flag Hall, a modest 11‑foot Washington figure—previously displayed at a local motorsport event—is slated for placement by Constitution Day.

Beyond the statues, the proposal calls for a five‑year exhibition devoted to Washington, timed to culminate on the tricentennial of his birth in 2032, and for the creation of a new Center for American Heroes to replace the recently concluded Center for Restorative History, which had focused on historically excluded narratives.

The ambitions arrive amid ongoing debates over the Smithsonian’s curatorial independence, highlighted by the announced retirement of Secretary Lonnie Bunch and a series of executive actions aimed at reshaping how American history is presented. Whether the grand vision will materialize remains uncertain, but it underscores a growing push to reframe national symbols within the museum’s public spaces.

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