Typically it takes years for a president to get their name on buildings – Trump has done it while still in office
While it’s not uncommon for U.S. presidents to have their names on naval vessels, currency, buildings and other institutions, Donald Trump has become the first sitting leader to do so.
Since returning to the Oval in January, the president has already seen multiple buildings and federal initiatives named, and renamed, after himself, including Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace, the Trump-class U.S.S. Defiant battleship, prescription drug website TrumpRx, and The Trump Gold Card visa.
Perhaps the most controversial has been The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, which has resulted in protests from civilians and performing artists alike.
In many instances, Trump has reportedly suggested having his name included on federal buildings himself, despite the honor usually being bestowed in later years by presidential successors.
Analysis from The New York Times, shows that the quickest turnaround for memorialization of a president previously was for John F Kennedy, following his assassination in November 1963. One year later the Kennedy Center, the Kennedy Space Center and the Kennedy Federal Building all bore his name.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Truman Building, which was named so in 2000, 47 years after the end of Harry S Truman’s presidency in 1953.
“Throughout Western history, the idea of commemorating and adulating yourself has been considered gauche,” Jeffrey Engel, a historian at Southern Methodist University, told the Times.
While presidents including George H Bush, Lyndon B Johnson and Bill Clinton have buildings named after them, there are currently no plans for any federal institutions to be named after more recent Commanders-in-Chief such as Barack Obama or Joe Biden – while Trump has two.
The addition of Trump’s name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in December last year has caused outrage, with multiple artists cancelling performances. In a significant move Saturday, the Washington National Opera also announced it would be leaving the center – which has been the company’s home since 1971.
Some have even suggested that the move – which was not approved by Congress – is potentially illegal.
Similarly, a 2005 law which expanded a series of $1 coins to feature faces of deceased presidents specifically forbade the creation of a new coin until at least two years after a president’s death. Despite this, a semiquincentennial (250 years) $1 coin featuring Trump’s face has been proposed and may enter circulation later this year.
Administration officials told The Times that the coin is part of a special currency series to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S., which does not have the same legal restrictions. In 1926, a coin featuring sitting president Calvin Coolidge want minted to celebrate the nation’s 150th anniversary.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment on President Trump’s penchant for renaming things after himself. A spokeswoman told The Times that the initiatives named after Trump were “historic” and “would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.”
Likewise, announcing the change to the name of the Kennedy Center in December, press secretary Karoline Leavitt attributed the change to the “unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building. Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation.”
