Washington - Former President Ronald Reagan may have an airport and a federal building named after him, but he will not be immortalised on South Dakota's Mount Rushmore, the US National Park Service said yesterday.
The park service, which manages the monument, said there is "no place" within 100 feet (31 metres) on either side of the massive stone faces to carve another image.
"It's not about Reagan", but about carving additional faces, said park spokesman Mr David Barna. The rock on the mountain in South Dakota's Black Hills is too fragile to support additional blasting for further carvings, he said.
Earlier this month, Arizona Republican Representative Mr Matt Salmon said he would introduce legislation to add Reagan's likeness to the shrine alongside other former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.