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One was the steel, bronze and limestone monument to Dwight D. Eisenhower, in the works for two decades and officially opened to the public on Friday.
And the other was the organic, spontaneous and sprawling memorial of flowers, songs, candles and posters at the steps of the Supreme Court for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Friday.
Let's look at some key quotes from these very different American icons:
"We have come a long ways in recognizing the equality of women. Unfortunately, in some respects, it is not yet complete. But I firmly believe it will soon be so."
"I steadfastly favor the principle that women workers should have equal rights with men. I sincerely hope that this equality can be accomplished without unnecessary delay."
"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
And there are these:
"Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you."
"Don't be distracted by emotions like anger, envy, resentment. These just zap energy and waste time."
"You can disagree without being disagreeable."
The first three are from Eisenhower. The second group of three, from Ginsburg.
Surprised at how alike these sentiments are?
You'd think these two couldn't be more different: She, a diminutive opera-lover and deep thinker of East Coast Ivy League heritage, a moral force on the Supreme Court for more than a quarter century. He, a golf-playing five-star general and plain-spoken, two-term president from Kansas educated at America's finest institutes of war.
But really, RBG and Ike could be twins when it comes to the essential qualities of leadership and morality that made both of them revered across the political spectrum.
And that's the dire message that America - in the middle of an acrimonious division that feels like the brink of a second Civil War - needs right now.
Army veteran Jack King came for Eisenhower but visited the Supreme Court, too. And as he read the quotes at the Eisenhower Memorial, he was stuck by the way he admired both leaders.
"Regardless of their politics, they both stood up for what they believe is right," said King, 85, of Leesburg, Va.
The Eisenhower Memorial has huge slabs of ambar limestone shipped in from a quarry in the small Spanish town of Huéscar and engraved with excerpts from some of Eisenhower's most famous speeches.
" 'We pray that . . . all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love'?" a tourist from Philadelphia said out loud, a little incredulously, as she read a part of Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address etched into that limestone. "Seriously? A Republican said that?"
The tourist, who is Black, told me she hates President Donald Trump but admitted she became a little smitten with Ike after her visit to his memorial.
Elizabeth Lodal is a retired educator who headed some of Virginia's most prestigious public schools.
"As a lifelong Democrat, I yearn for a Republican like him," she said. "For someone who has the best intentions for everyone . . . he spoke of moral imperatives."
Before she visited the Eisenhower Memorial, Lodal went to the Supreme Court and paid her respects to Ginsburg, who was a good friend and a fellow opera aficionado.
"They both had an unvarnished love of their nation and the truth of it," she said, "the good and the not so good."
I was delighted at the especially astute observation that came from three young women - all brand-new government employees who were nervous about being identified - who visited the Eisenhower Memorial in their weekend workout clothes.
"Regardless of their own personal views, they were both leaders who did a lot of work on things that would take time to happen," said one of the women, a 21-year-old from Florida. "Look at everything that Eisenhower started - NASA, the Interstate Highway System, Brown vs. the Board of Education. And RBG with women's rights. They knew those things wouldn't happen right away. They wouldn't benefit them right away."
Another of the women, a 22-year-old from Alabama, said she admired that both leaders "found a middle ground. We're so polarized now. It was a different era."
Still, on plenty of issues, RBG and Ike weren't simpatico.
Although Eisenhower spoke about women's equality and even said he supported the Equal Rights Amendment, he also had some very 1950s views about women's place in the home and the very existence of the discrimination that Ginsburg spent a lifetime fighting.
He was, as some presidents have said about themselves, evolving.
At the Supreme Court over the weekend, there were women who made elaborate posters and brought huge bouquets to honor Ginsburg. Of course, she changed all of our lives.
But beyond her groundbreaking work on gender equality, she also led with some of the same qualities that made Americans like Ike.
"We're all in the same, stinking ship!" Don Felton boomed over the crowd, broadcasting his voice through a huge speaker he wheeled to the Supreme Court on a handcart.
"We're so busy hating one another!
"We've got to stop demonizing each other!"
Folden, 67, is a tour guide and a Black historian who rankled some of the mourners with his audio rig.
But he said he came there to get the folks idolizing Ginsburg to also acknowledge her approach and collegiality in her dissent.
"That lady had a unique quality," Folden said. "She could put people in their place with dignity. She didn't have to denigrate herself or the other people to win her battles."
Davey Hearn, 61, ordinarily known for his Olympic career as a slalom canoeist from Bethesda, Md., came to the memorial because he was inspired by the ways Ginsburg made change, how she worked so collegially with the men whose minds she had to change.
He tried to tell Folden that his booming delivery wasn't really appropriate in a place of mourning.
"I understand your message," Hearn told Folden. "But there's a clash between what you're doing and the atmosphere here."
Folden handed Hearn his microphone. "Here. The floor is yours."
Hearn hesitated, holding the microphone up to his masked mouth.
"I want to thank everybody who came out here," he said, haltingly.
"Her passing has made many of us cognizant about the things we hold dear and the democracy we enjoy," he said. "Our democracy can't fail because of the passing of one person."
He handed the microphone back to Folden.
"See," Folden said. "We just had a breakthrough moment. We worked together."
(COMMENT, BELOW)
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