38. Commissioning Jefferson’s First Statue in Washington
Levy first expressed his admiration for Thomas Jefferson while he was still a lieutenant in the US Navy. Decrying the lack of a statue of the third president in the US Capitol building, he went ahead and commissioned one.
The Jefferson statue was presented to Congress in 1834, and it still stands in the Rotunda to this day- the only one furnished with private funds. That was just the start of demonstrating an appreciation that, as seen below, culminated in the purchase and preservation of Jefferson’s home.