What are all the exact verbatim texts of the Presidential Walk of Fame plaques, and where can official transcripts be obtained?
Executive summary
The available press reports reproduce several of the new bronze plaque texts installed on the White House “Presidential Walk of Fame,” but no single news report in the provided pool publishes a complete, verbatim set for every president; multiple outlets quote sharp, partisan lines aimed at recent Democratic presidents and note fact‑checks that dispute some claims on the plaques (AP, NYT, PBS) [1] [2] [3]. Reporting also shows the White House defending the plaques as eloquent and permanent, while news organizations and fact‑checkers characterize them as partisan rewrites of history [4] [5] [3].
1. What the question is asking and what the sources actually contain
The user requests the exact, verbatim texts of every plaque on the Presidential Walk of Fame and where to obtain official transcripts; the provided reporting reproduces only select plaque inscriptions and editorial summaries rather than a full archive of every plaque in one place, so it is not possible from these sources alone to present an authoritative, complete verbatim list for all presidents [6] [2] [7].
2. Verbatim plaque excerpts that appear in multiple news reports
Several precise phrases and sentences are repeatedly reported: Joe Biden’s plaque begins, “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History,” and reportedly accuses him of a series of “unprecedented disasters” and claims he took office “as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States,” as reproduced in multiple outlets [7] [3]. Barack Obama’s plaque is quoted as reading, in part, “Barack Hussein Obama was the first Black President, a community organizer, one term Senator from Illinois, and one of the most divisive political figures in American History,” and accuses him of “spying on the 2016 Presidential Campaign of Donald J. Trump,” language that fact‑checkers say is misleading [6] [3]. An introductory plaque is quoted as: “The Presidential Walk of Fame will long live as a testament and tribute to the Greatness of America,” language outlets attribute directly to the new display’s framing [1] [6]. Other singled‑out inscriptions include a line under Bill Clinton noting that “In 2016, President Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton, lost the Presidency to President Donald J. Trump!” and a line characterizing Ronald Reagan as “a fan of” the 45th president — formulations cited across outlets [8] [1] [7]. Reporting also reproduces claims on Biden’s plaque alleging his administration “let 21 million people from all over the World pour into the US,” a figure that BBC Verify and others flagged as a false or unsupported assertion [9].
3. Fact‑checks and competing interpretations
News outlets and fact‑checkers repeatedly flag substantial accuracy problems with several of the quoted plaque claims: PBS notes that the allegation Obama “spied on the 2016 Presidential Campaign” contradicts multiple independent investigations and bipartisan Senate reports finding no political influence over the FBI probe [3], while BBC and others point out that border‑related numbers on Biden’s plaque echo contested figures used by the administration rather than verified totals [9]. The White House press office defends the plaques as “eloquently written descriptions” meant to celebrate U.S. greatness, a framing that reveals the administration’s intent to codify its political narrative in a permanent display [4].
4. Where to obtain complete, official verbatim text (limits of the record)
None of the supplied articles contains a single, official transcript listing every plaque’s complete verbatim text; the news reports quote selected lines and summarize themes but do not serve as an authoritative archive [6] [2]. The articles do record that the plaques are installed in the Colonnade and were described publicly by the White House and press outlets during the December unveiling [1] [6]. The reporting does not publish or link to a government‑issued, complete transcript of all plaques, and therefore an official source should be consulted for a definitive, verbatim compilation; the White House press office and official WhiteHouse.gov releases would be the predictable first places to check, but that specific publication is not documented in these sources [4].
5. Bottom line and recommended next steps for verification
Reported excerpts show the plaques are intentionally partisan and include claims disputed by independent fact‑checkers [3] [9] [5], but a complete, verbatim list of every plaque is not contained in the available reporting; obtaining an official, definitive transcript will require consulting the White House’s own releases or requesting the text directly from the administration for archival accuracy, while treating media‑reproduced lines as partial excerpts that have been subjected to fact‑checking [4] [3].