How did the McMillan Plan reflect the United States’ growing role as a world power?

The McMillan Plan, developed in 1901 by the Senate Park Commission under the leadership of Daniel Burnham, was explicitly designed to reflect the United States’ status as an emerging world power.1

By re-envisioning and enlarging the original 1791 plan by Pierre-Charles L’Enfant, Burnham and his team—which included Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.—sought to create a grand, ordered national capital. Drawing on precedents from Paris and Rome, the commission utilized the City Beautiful movement to establish visible, permanent ties to European Classical traditions. This approach aimed to project an image of stability, civic virtue, and monumental authority befitting a nation with growing international influence.12

The plan’s focus on a comprehensive park system, the redefinition of the National Mall, and the creation of formal gateways like Union Station transformed Washington, D.C., into a capital that physically manifested the country's rising global stature through balance, symmetry, and architectural grandeur.12