As America approaches its 250th birthday, conservatives should cheer a long-overdue effort to put the Adams family back where they belong — front and center in the nation’s capital. The Adamses were architects of American liberty, and honoring John, Abigail, and John Quincy with a dignified memorial near the White House is common-sense patriotism that reaffirms our founding truths.
Rep. John Moolenaar has led the charge in Congress with the Adams Memorial — Great American Heroes Act, moving legislation that reauthorizes the Adams Memorial Commission and carves out a site for the memorial in President’s Park. This is not a partisan stunt; it’s bipartisan action to preserve history and to ensure future generations can walk the Mall and encounter the real men and women who built this republic.
Let’s be clear: this fight matters because the left’s cultural purge of statues and memory has left Americans hungry for the truth about our origins. While some seek to erase or twist the past, lawmakers are doing the hard work of memorializing founders who defended liberty, advanced the rule of law, and fought for the union — even when politics was ugly and compromise was the only way forward. Honoring the Adams family is an act of cultural restoration, not nostalgia.
The bill does more than just name a place; it outlines real resources and accountability. Lawmakers authorized federal support and a requirement that any federal dollars be matched by nonfederal donations, and the commission’s authorization has been extended to give planners time to get the job done — the kind of fiscal restraint and public-private partnership conservatives favor. This is a practical, limited-government approach to commemorating greatness, not another open-ended federal slush fund.
Supporters envision a memorial that reflects the Adamses’ New England character — thoughtful, restrained, and family-centered — perhaps a library and garden rather than a bombastic government monument. That focus on family, faith, and civic education is exactly what America needs as we push back against an education establishment that too often downplays character and civic virtue. A modest, instructive memorial will teach Americans what service and sacrifice look like.
Now is the moment for patriots to speak up. Call your representatives and urge them to finish the job, push the Senate to act, and insist the president put pen to paper so this commission can deliver a memorial worthy of our founders. We owe it to the Adams family, to our children, and to the idea of America itself to preserve and exalt the truth about who we are and where we came from.
