Early public monuments in the 1930s, depicting the victory of the War of Independence (1919-1922), which first and foremost legitimized the new regime, visualize how Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, his colleagues, and his followers instituted a new official history. These monuments were easy to reproduce, and the state disseminated the official history to its illiterate citizens in various parts of the Republic. Atatürk’s statues and monuments dominated and designated the public spaces throughout the country. In Istanbul, the arrangement of Taksim Square, which was designed as a showcase of Republican ideology, started with the placement of the Monument of the Republic in 1928. One side of the monument depicts the War of Independence while the other portrays the secular state. The side of the monument that represents the emergence of the Republic portrays Ismet Inönü on Atatürk's right-hand side since he was one of the “heroes” of the National Struggle. From the 1930s on, political tension emerged at the top especially between Atatürk and Inönü, who was then the prime minister (1925-1937). Although Atatürk retreated from everyday politics, he was the unquestionable authority. Inönü had acted as Atatürk’s “number two," but even he had to resign in 1937 after the increasing incoordination between Atatürk’s and the cabinet’s decisions. Following Atatürk’s death in 1938, the assembly elected Inönü president. He then became the permanent chairman of the Republican People’s Party as the party and the state were immensely integrated, and given the title "National Chief." The most significant transformation of Taksim was implemented during ?nönü’s time in the office. Inönü Gezisi (Inönü Promenade, now Gezi Park), which was opened in 1942, transformed the space and eliminated the centrality of the Monument of the Republic. A monument dedicated to Inönü was commissioned to German sculptor Rudolf Belling in the same year. Although the pedestal was fully constructed at the entrance of the Inönü Gezisi, which is next to Taksim Square, the statue could not be placed in its designated site. Inönü succeeded Atatürk as the national leader and attempted to continue to control power single-handedly. This paper traces the “National Chief”s struggle for legitimizing his authority through one of the most contested urban spaces in Turkey, Taksim Square.