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Wednesday, September 4, 2019

15 unexpected places where statues of US presidents can be found around the world

[late US President Ronald Reagan during a centennial commemoration in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, June 29, 2011.]Bela Szandelszky / AP * THE CZECH REPUBLIC, FRANCE, GREECE, HUNGARY, PARAGUAY, POLAND, RUSSIA, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM ALL HAVE FORMER US PRESIDENTS MEMORIALIZED AS STATUES. * ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND RONALD REAGAN APPEAR THE MOST. * BUT GEORGE WASHINGTON, DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, THOMAS JEFFERSON, WOODROW WILSON, HARRY TRUMAN, GEORGE W. BUSH, AND BILL CLINTON ARE ALSO ALL REMEMBERED. * CHINA, FOR A WHILE, EVEN HAD A STATUE OF BARACK OBAMA THAT BURST INTO FLAMES — AS A COMPLIMENT. * VISIT BUSINESS INSIDER'S HOMEPAGE FOR MORE STORIES. After their terms are up, some US presidents live on in bronze far from their homeland. Memorialized and often built larger-than-life, governments use the statues to remind citizens of the past, to strengthen political ties, or to celebrate the former US leaders for what they did during their terms. Alternatively, at times of protest, they can be a tool for sending a message. One president's statue was even bombed by protesters. The Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Paraguay, Poland, Russia, and the United Kingdom all have former US presidents memorialized as statues. For a while, China even had a Barack Obama statue that burst into flames, because he was "so hot" at the time. Here's where some former US presidents, cast in bronze, are scattered around the world. ABRAHAM LINCOLN HAS A STATUE IN MEXICO CITY, MEXICO. Wikimedia Lincoln's statue was gifted to Mexico by the US government. Former President Lyndon Johnson commissioned it in 1964 to help relations between the two countries. There are also Lincoln statues in three other Mexican cities, including Tijuana. Lincoln is liked in Mexico, due to his stance against both the Mexican war and slavery, as well as his support for former-Mexican President Benito Juarez. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HAS A STATUE IN PARIS, FRANCE. Bernard Charlon / Gamma-rapho / Getty Franklin's bronze statue in Paris was gifted to France in 1906 by the New England Society. It was a replica based on a sculpture of Franklin by John J. Boyle, which was built for Philadelphia. Franklin lived in Paris for more than seven years. He was the first US ambassador to France. THOMAS JEFFERSON ALSO HAS A STATUE IN PARIS. Joel Saget / AFP / Getty Jefferson's 10-foot bronze statue was unveiled on the Seine, on July 4, 2006. He stands holding a quill and a drawing. French artist Jean Cardot made the sculpture, and it was donated to France by the Florence Gould Foundation. Before he was the United States' third president, Jefferson was the first minister to France in 1785. SEE THE REST OF THE STORY AT BUSINESS INSIDER SEE ALSO: * POWER RANKING: Here's who has the best chance of becoming the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee * 45 landmark Supreme Court cases that changed American life as we knew it * The incredible life of John McCain in photos SEE ALSO: WISE QUOTES ON LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS FROM EVERY US PRESIDENT DON'T MISS: HERE'S WHAT EVERY PRESIDENT'S SIGNATURE LOOKS LIKE


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