The Mount Rushmore National Memorial, is a sculpture carved into the granite of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum created the design and oversaw the work from 1927-1941. Gutzon also had help from his son Lincoln Borglum. Lincoln took over as boss of the construction when his dad died in March of 1941. Unfortunately funding also ran out in 1941 so construction stopped in October of 1941. The original design was for the figures to be from the waist up not just heads.

South Dakota Historian, Doane Robinson is credited with conceiving the idea of carving figures somewhere in the Black Hills to promote tourism. It was sculptor Gutzon himself that decided to use Presidents instead of American West heroes. The order of Presidents is from left to right, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org