Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Poll: Americans select new face for Mount Rushmore

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of America's National Park System, Expedia.com commissioned a study of American attitudes toward which American president they would choose to add to Mount Rushmore, if given the chance.

The study was conducted from Feb. 26-29, and included responses from 1,039 American adults.


Americans were presented with a range of modern American presidents and asked to select the one they would choose to add to Mount Rushmore, alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the runaway winner, chosen by 29 percent of Americans.
  1. Franklin D. Roosevelt - 29%
  2. John F. Kennedy - 21%
  3. Ronald Reagan - 19%
  4. Barack Obama - 9%
  5. Dwight Eisenhower – 8%
  6. Harry S. Truman - 5%
  7. William Clinton – 4%
  8. George H.W. Bush – 3%
  9. George W. Bush - 2%

Americans also were given the option of writing in the name of a famous person - not a president - who they would like to see added to the monument. The most common recommendation was Martin Luther King, Jr., who was named by 11 percent of Americans. The top five non-presidential Mount Rushmore nominees include:
  1. Martin Luther King, Jr. - 11%
  2. Benjamin Franklin- 7%
  3. Albert Einstein - 3%
  4. Jesus Christ - 2%
  5. Donald Trump - 2%

Mickey Mouse ranked sixth, and Beyoncé came in eighth.

When asked which national park they consider to be their favorite, Yellowstone won the honor, cited by 27 percent of Americans. The Grand Canyon came in second, cited by 20 percent of Americans. The top five favorite American national parks are:
  1. Yellowstone - 27%
  2. Grand Canyon - 20%
  3. Great Smoky Mountains - 18%
  4. Rocky Mountain – 16%
  5. Yosemite - 10%

When asked to name the "most beautiful" national park, the same five parks were cited, only in a different order.
  1. Grand Canyon - 25%
  2. Yellowstone - 21%
  3. Yosemite – 20%
  4. Great Smoky Mountains - 12%
  5. Rocky Mountain – 9%

When asked which national parks landscape, monument, or feature Americans would "most like to take a selfie in front of," the top five selections were:
  1. Mount Rushmore - 30%
  2. Grand Canyon – 25%
  3. Old Faithful - 18%
  4. Lincoln Memorial – 13%
  5. Great Smoky Mountains – 7%

3 comments:

Anonymous said...


I would not add any other face to the already beautiful monument...

Anonymous said...


I would not add any other face to the already beautiful monument...

Anonymous said...

The monument is an eyesore and a slap in the face to the First Nations people who were already here.