Sen. Roberts To Head Up Eisenhower Memorial Project

Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts has been elected chairman of the commission working to build a memorial honoring President Dwight D. Eisenhower near the National Mall.

Roberts, a Republican from Eisenhower’s home state, was elected Wednesday during a meeting of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission at the Capitol. California Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson was elected vice chairman.

Former chairman Rocco Siciliano led the effort for 15 years and oversaw hiring Frank Gehry as the designer.

Now it falls to Roberts to build support to complete the memorial. The project has been delayed for years over objections to the design by Eisenhower’s family and some groups.

Roberts says it hasn’t been easy to advance the project. But he says Eisenhower never stopped in the face of adversity and the commission won’t either.