The Jefferson Memorial was dedicated April 13, 1943, 200 years to the day after Jefferson was born.  The memorial is a fitting tribute to the man who authored the Declaration of Independence, served as the nation's third president and founded the University of Virginia. Planning for the memorial began in 1934, when Congress established the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Commission. Architect John Russell Pope sought to preserve Jefferson's passion for Neoclassical architecture in the design of the memorial. Pope decided to base his design on the Pantheon in Rome. Ironically, the Commission of Fine Arts looked with disfavor on the Pantheon-based design, feeling that it would compete with the Lincoln Memorial.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt liked Pope's design and gave permission to begin formal construction. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone in a ceremony held Nov. 15, 1939. The memorial was dedicated in 1943.  In 1941, sculptor Rudolph Evans was commissioned to produce the statue of Jefferson that gazes from the interior of the memorial toward the White House. The massive 19-foot bronze portrait statue weighs 5 tons and stands atop a 6-foot pedestal.  A plaster model of the statue was in place during World War II because of restrictions on the use of metals. After the war, the restrictions were lifted and the bronze statue was placed in the memorial. The plaster model resides in the memorial's basement, too large to be removed intact. Panels on the interior walls bear excerpts of Jefferson's writings. One of these quotes captures perfectly the essence of Jefferson's greatness: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."