Hiram Powers modeled this bust of John Caldwell Calhoun shortly after the artist arrived in Washington. Senator Calhoun was recognized as one of the most important Southerners in Washington, having served as secretary of war and vice president, and Powers felt it would be beneficial to his career to do the portrait. The bust was so successful that the state of South Carolina raised the money for a full-length statue of Calhoun. The senator helped greatly in securing this commission for Powers, writing that the sculptor’s skill was “unsurpassed.”