George Washington had one. So did Abraham Lincoln. What Franklin Roosevelt couldn't figure out in 1934 was why Thomas Jefferson didn't have one.

Both presidents had memorials in their honor and FDR felt that the nation's third president deserved a memorial too.

Originally designed with no outdoor lighting, incandescent lights were designed and installed at the Memorial in the 1960s and 70s. New, lower watt, energy-efficient lights have resulted in an energy savings of 78 percent, leaving the architectural features of the Memorial more visible than ever before.

"The replacement of dated incandescent lighting with new, energy-efficient products clearly illustrates the advancements that have been made in architectural lighting," said Arnold Goldstein, National Park Service Superintendent for the monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C. "The results of this work allow the National Park Service to lower energy consumption without sacrificing the necessary light levels and aesthetics."

According to Goldstein, the original energy requirement at the memorial was over 125,000 watts. The new design provides just over 25,000 watts to produce the same levels of light.

A Brief History of the Memorial

Along with new LED technology inside the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, new lighting controls were installed and outdated exterior lighting poles, located behind the maturing Memorial landscape were replaced, casting a more even lighting effect on the Memorial.

Jefferson was one of the brightest, forward thinking patriots in America's earliest years. An eloquent writer, he was no public speaker. As a member the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress he contributed his ideas on paper rather than through his voice. At 33-years-old, Jefferson put is writing talents to work in drafting the Declaration of Independence. He worked to make its words a reality in Virginia. He also wrote a bill enacted in 1786 establishing religious freedom.

In 1796 Jefferson came within three votes of being elected President. Due to a flaw in the constitution he became Vice President. In the 1800 election, Republican electors attempted to name a President and a Vice President from their own party casting a tie vote between Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The House of Representatives voted in Jefferson.

On June 26, 1934 Roosevelt got his wish as

Resolution No. 49, by the 73rd Congress, authorized the building of the memorial for the author of the Declaration of Independence.

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Commission chose architect John Russell Pope along with associates Otto R. Eggers and Daniel P. Higgins to execute the design on landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. In 1936, Congress appropriated $3 million for the Memorial. Two years later ground was broken for the Memorial.

Pope decided on a design that Jefferson had used for his Monticello home and the University of Virginia. The circular dome was inspired by the Parthenon in Rome, and was seen as an ultimate tribute that both the Commission and Roosevelt agreed on.

In 1941, Rudulph Evans signed a contract with the Commission to create a statue for the memorial. At the dedication of the memorial two years later, a plaster statue was installed because of a shortage of metals as the U.S. was deeply involved in World War II. A 10,000-pound bronze statue of Jefferson replaced the plaster sculpture on April 25, 1947.

The look of the Memorial was inspired by the design that Jefferson used for his Monticello home and at the University of Virginia. The Memorial grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted who also designed the grounds for the U.S. Capitol and the White House. The statue of Jefferson inside the Memorial faces the White House across the Tidal Basin.

In an interesting note, the cornerstone of the memorial contains a copy of the Declaration of Independence; a copy of the Constitution of the United States; a copy of The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth by Thomas Jefferson; The Writings of Thomas Jefferson by Paul Leicester Ford (10 vols); a copy of the Annual Report of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Commission, 1939 with the signatures of the President of the United States and members of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Commission; and one copy each of the Washington Post, Washington Evening Star, Washington Times-Herald and Washington Daily News.

The National Park Service partnered with the National Park Foundation and Osram Sylvania, who donated $800,000 to light the Memorial. The National Park Foundation is the official nonprofit partner of the NPS. The project marked the 100th anniversary of Sylvania and the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's inauguration. Work was finished in September, and a ceremony was scheduled to showcase the newly illuminated memorial. Unfortunately the events of September 11 caused the ceremony to be postponed.

"Partnerships have long played an important role in enhancing the National Park visitor experience, and the Lighting of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial continues that tradition," said Jim Maddy, president of the National Park Foundation. "U.S. Monuments and Memorials are designed to be educational, as well as to be places of reflection. The new atmosphere at the Jefferson Memorial helps the National Park Service achieve these goals in splendid fashion."

While the light sources installed in the 1960s and 70s were technologically appropriate and pretty state-of-the-art at the time, lighting technology has advanced to a place that makes the Memorial's attractive features more visible than ever.

Metalarc® high-intensity discharge (HID) metal halide lamps are the primary light source used in the new scheme, supplemented by light-emitting diodes (LED) which last up to 100,000 hours. LEDs are being used in an increasingly wide range of applications as alternatives to conventional lamps.

The high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps produce light differently than incandescent or fluorescent light sources. In HID lamps, light is provided by the passage of an electric current through a gas or vapor arc stream which operates under increased pressure. The addition of various elements to the arc stream affects the efficiency and color properties of the light. Since all HID lamps are gaseous discharge light solutions, they require a ballast for operation.

The Metalarc® lamps used in the Jefferson Memorial are being used to illuminate the statue of Jefferson, the inner dome and the entire outside of the Memorial.

While the light sources installed in the 1960s and 70s were technologically appropriate and pretty state-of-the-art at the time, lighting technology has advanced to a place that makes the Memorial's attractive features more visible than ever.

The new lighting system will include illumination of the inside of the dome for the first time so visitors will be able to better appreciate the mosaic expanse of stone that stretches across the marbled rotunda nearly 92-feet below.

The statue of Jefferson faces the White House across the Tidal Basin. The new lighting design fully illuminates this figure. Visitors can now clearly appreciate many of its fine details, including the buttons on Jefferson's coat. The new lighting scheme will illuminate the face of the memorial facing the Tidal Basin, making the view from the White House and the Washington Monument crisper and more even.

With the subtle lighting effect created by the new LED technology, the inscription on the text frieze - "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man" - which features a famed Jefferson thought that is one of the most quoted of any by Congress, will become more legible. More than 17,000 of these LED-produced pinpoints of light, placed unobtrusively around the dome base inside a narrow ledge, will allow Jefferson's words on independence and freedom to be presented more prominently each time a visitor's eyes are cast upward.

Other improvements include the installation of new lighting controls and the removal of the outdated exterior lighting poles - part of the original lighting design - that were located behind the maturing memorial landscape. Over time, the trees had overshadowed the memorial grounds, casting an uneven lighting effect. Now, new poles have been installed in historically sensitive locations and floodlight fixtures and HID lamps cast an even, warm glow over the entire memorial.