A large mural of native Hoosier and adopted local son Wendell L. Willkie is sure to grab your attention as you drive in downtown Rushville. A prominent lawyer, executive and politician, Willkie is best remembered for making a daring Presidential bid as a Republican against Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940. Willkie made his campaign headquarters here, in the hometown of his wife Edith, at the famous Durbin Hotel. Although he lost the election to FDR, Willkie continued his path as a U.S. statesman and is widely regarded for his ideologically progressive book "One World," published in 1943.
(Mural by artist and Oscar nominee Pamela Bliss)