Dwight D. Eisenhower was privy to the greatest events of the 20th century. As commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force that liberated Europe, who then made a successful transition to politics, his achievements bring George Washington to mind. As a two-term president who held his party together and was almost as respected going out as coming in, he's reminiscent of Ronald Reagan. He's ubiquitous on the silver dollar and in the speeches and blogs of those who denounce the "military-industrial complex." Such a man deserves a memorial, but probably not the one planned for him.

The Eisenhower National Memorial was commissioned in 1999, but the design was not unveiled until late last year, to a mixed reception. In December the controversy exploded when David Eisenhower, grandson of the president, resigned from the memorial committee and the Eisenhower family unanimously voiced their disapproval of the concept: a small grove of oak trees surrounded by huge concrete cylinders holding up "tapestries" of stainless steel mesh. According to the official site, these tapestries "will depict images of Eisenhower's life, amplifying the setting and creating an ideal background for the memorial experience." The "memorial experience" itself will center around one piece of statuary, a life-size figure of Eisenhower, not as leader of the free world or commander of the allies, but as a Kansas farm boy.

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