Stephen Colbert's presidential run may not have gotten off the ground, but he's found his place among our nation's leaders all the same.
A portrait of the faux conservative talk-show host was hung Wednesday at the Smithsonian Institute's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, in what the gallery deemed an "appropriate place"—namely, in a hallway by the bathrooms close to the American Presidents exhibit.
Museum officials said the portrait would only be displayed for six weeks and stressed that it was only hanging as a result of the gallery's sense of humor.
"We agreed to go along with the joke and hang it for a short time in between the bathrooms," museum spokeswoman Bethany Bentley told the Associated Press. "Let me tell you two key things here: His portrait is not coming into the collection, and it's not hanging permanently."
That didn't stop Colbert from boasting on his show Tuesday that his portrait, which shows him posing in front of a mantel over which hangs a portrait of him in the same pose, standing in front of yet another depiction of himself, was "hanging in the hall of presidents, just a few yards from the father of our country—exactly where I believe it belongs."
In episodes of his show that aired last Thursday, Monday and Tuesday, the Colbert Report purveyor fought hard to earn his portrait its spot on the hallowed walls of the Smithsonian, attempting to convince the institute that he should be considered a national treasure.
After he was rejected by the National Museum of American History, the museum's director suggested that he give the portrait gallery a shot.
It was there that Colbert succeeded in convincing gallery director Marc Pachter that he was worthy of exhibition for at least a short period of time.
Arguing that he was more deserving than athletes Lance Armstrong and Andre Agassi, both of whom have portraits on display in the gallery, Colbert pulled out a Hacky Sack to display his own sporty prowess.
"You do realize I'm in big trouble if you hit any of these portraits," Pachter said, as Colbert kicked the sack around the gallery.
The TV host chalked up his success in convincing the gallery to hang his portrait to his "sack work," as well as the exemplary quality of the artwork itself.
"I don't mean to brag, but as it contains three portraits, my portrait has more portraits than any other portrait in the National Portrait Gallery," he said.