The Senate Chamber

Senate Vice Presidential Bust Collection

The United States Senate's vice presidential bust collection forms the oldest continuing collection in the U.S. Capitol, and honors the presidents of the Senate. The first bust was commissioned by the Senate in 1885 as a tribute to Vice President Henry Wilson, who had died in office ten years earlier. Modeled by noted American sculptor Daniel Chester French, the bust of Wilson was placed in the Vice President's Room adjacent to the Senate chamber in 1886. That same year the Senate, by resolution, provided for a collection of vice presidential representations. Legislation approved May 13, 1886, stated that periodically marble busts of those who have been vice president of the United States would be acquired for placement in the niches at gallery level of the Senate chamber.

The initial five commissions included busts of the first two vice presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and three former vice presidents then living, Hannibal Hamlin, William Wheeler, and Chester A. Arthur. As directed by the resolution of 1886, additional representations were added to the collection until the twenty existing gallery niches in the Senate chamber had been filled. The original resolution was amended on January 6, 1898, in order to provide for placement of additional vice presidential busts throughout the Senate wing of the Capitol.

The vice presidential bust collection chronicles those individuals who have served as vice president, and honors their role in the history of the Senate. It also provides a unique survey of American sculpture from the 19th century to the present. The collection contains works by such premier American artists as Daniel Chester French, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and Franklin Simmons, and reflects the strength and vitality of American art during the last century.

The most recent addition to the series is a marble portrait bust of former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, sculpted in 1993 by William Behrends. It was formally unveiled on May 24, 1995 in the Senate, and is on view on the second floor main corridor of the U.S. Capitol.

Below are selected images from the U.S. Senate's vice presidential bust collection. This page will be updated periodically to bring you additional selections.