The History of the President Head Busts

The President busts were created by sculptor David Adickes who was inspired to create the giant busts after driving past Mount Rushmore located in South Dakota. The bust sizes range from 15-20-Foot-high and weigh between 11,000 to 20,000 lbs. The smallest bust is of President Obama and it is 2-foot-tall and weighs 50 lbs. There are seven busts which are quite larger than the others and this was done by design. The sculptor, Mr. Adickes took a poll to find out who were the most influential presidents and he built them larger than the others. The seven influential presidents according to Adickes’ poll was: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Moving the Busts

The presidential busts were originally located at Presidents Park, Williamsburg, VA. The park opened in 2004 and closed in 2010 due to lack of visitors. The busts were to be destroyed after the park closed. Mr. Howard Hankins who help build the park, offered to take the 43 bust to his family farm which is located about 12 miles from the park. The intent was to preserve the busts in their original state but that did not happen. Due to the size and weight of the busts, each bust had to be lifted from its base by a crane and to loaded onto a flatbed truck. A hole had to be smashed into the top of each sculpture’s head and the steel frame inside each head, aided with lifting the bust up. The moving team improvised as they went along, and the earlier busts moved bore the brunt of the movers’ initial inexperience. The first few busts moved have broken noses, missing backsides and other structural issues. Abraham Lincoln's bust now has an eerie hole in the back of its head that brings to mind his tragic end, and Ronald Reagan's bust bears the scar of a lightning strike. The busts all now sit decaying in three neat lines on the farm with the exception of Presidents: George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln who sit apart from the group. Visitors can physically walk around those three busts.

Historical Preservation

Mr. Hankins’ goal is to utilize the busts to build something that will benefit children and the local economy. Mr. Hankins is working with a couple different agencies to find a good site to rebuild the museum. His vison is His vision is a grand one that takes the original Presidents Park model, which included a visitor center with presidential memorabilia and a recreation of the Oval Office, to a new level. Hankins envisions a new incarnation complete with Air Force One fuselage, Secret Service museum, First Lady memorabilia, Wounded Warriors room, interactivity and more. To watch a short documentary about the Presidents Heads by Adam Roffman click here.