A 9-foot statue of President Ronald Reagan will be unveiled at the airport bearing his name Tuesday in Washington, D.C. The 900-pound bronze likeness of the nation’s 40th president at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is one of several being erected during this year-long celebration marking the 100th anniversary of Reagan’s birth on Feb. 6, 1911.
The statue will stand in front of a curved 38-foot stainless steel wall that includes a cutout of an American eagle. The statue “captures President Reagan in motion, as he greets travelers arriving or departing the airport,” according to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.
The airport was originally known as Washington National Airport. President Bill Clinton signed legislation on Feb. 6, 1998, to change the name to honor Reagan on his 87th birthday.
North Carolina sculptor Chas Fagan created the statue. He has done other renderings of Reagan that can be found in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, in Grosvenor Square in London, and at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
Among those who plan to be in attendance for the unveiling are Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, former Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole, and Frederick Ryan Jr., chairman of the board of trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.
The foundation in a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to the promotion of the legacy of Ronald Reagan. Among other activities, the foundation “sustains the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, the Reagan Center for Public Affairs, the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Presidential Learning Center and The Air Force One Pavilion.”
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