President Franklin Delano Roosevelt didn’t want a grand memorial like the one that's now on the Mall. He reportedly said, ‘If any memorial is erected to me, I should like it to consist of a block about the size of this desk and placed in front of the Archives Building. I want it plain, without any ornamentation, with the simple carving “In Memory Of”.’ This request was honored in 1965, with a small stone slab.
