Reagan supporters want to see their hero on U.S. money

AP ^ | 6.8.04

[ambrose]

Posted on Tue, Jun. 08, 2004

Reagan supporters want to see their hero on U.S. money

JIM ABRAMS

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Ronald Reagan's enthusiastic supporters say the late president deserves a place on the nation's currency, even if it means a lesser or disappearing role for Franklin D. Roosevelt, Alexander Hamilton or Andrew Jackson.

Getting their hero's face on the dime may be easier than other goals, such as seeing it etched on Mount Rushmore, but that idea still will be resisted by Democrats defending their own icon, FDR.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., a speechwriter in the Reagan White House, plans to introduce a bill to put Reagan on the $20 bill, replacing another venerable Democrat, Andrew Jackson.

That would join a previous proposal, by Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., to provide for dimes bearing the likeness of Reagan.

The office of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he would pursue an idea he has pushed for several years, placing Reagan on the $10 bill now bearing the visage of Hamilton, the first Treasury secretary.

Chris Butler of the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, which has the goal of seeing a Reagan commemoration in every American county, said its top legislative priority is the $10 bill. He noted that money can be changed administratively without congressional action, and suggested that Reagan dimes could join, rather than replace, FDR dimes.

The Treasury secretary can change the design of coins, usually after consulting Congress, but spokeswoman Anne Womack Kolton said, "We believe it is premature at this point to discuss any possible changes to the currency."

Replacing FDR would not happen without a battle. Last November, on the same day Souder introduced his Reagan dime bill "in honor of his work in restoring American greatness and bringing freedom to captive nations around the world," Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., proposed a resolution affirming support of the FDR dime. More than half the House Democrats joined him as co-sponsors.

Reagan's wife Nancy has also voiced opposition to the new dime. Souder last December praised the "humble nature" of Mrs. Reagan's comments but said he would continue to promote his bill, which has the support of GOP leaders, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Butler, whose group is a wing of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, pointed out that coins bearing the likeness of FDR, John F. Kennedy and Lincoln all appeared within a year of their deaths. The Roosevelt dime came out in 1946, in part commemorating his support for the March of Dimes campaign to fight polio.

Besides paper and metal, Reagan advocates have long pushed to see their champion honored more widely in stone. Butler said there are now some 54 highways, schools, post offices and other memorials to Reagan around the country, but that still pales in comparison with the more than 600 for Kennedy and more than 800 for Martin Luther King.

Up to now, the biggest victories have been the renaming of Washington's National Airport after the 40th president and the opening in Washington of the Ronald Reagan Building, the second largest government office building after the Pentagon. Last year the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was commissioned.

Still in the works is the idea of a monument to Reagan on the National Mall in Washington, deterred by a law - signed by Reagan - that bars new monuments until a person has been dead 25 years.

Then there is Mount Rushmore.

It will take a long time to study the geophysical and artistic feasibility of that project, Butler said. But "is he great enough to be on Mount Rushmore? Yes."

ON THE NET

Ronald Reagan Legacy Project: http://www.reaganlegacy.org/

[ambrose]

My personal opinion: trying to dump FDR for Reagan is foolish and would be overly divisive. I would alternatively suggest putting Reagan on a two dollar bill, which would then be issued into wide circulation. Given inflation, a $2 bill also makes good sense.

[joesnuffy]

Or a half dollar a 90% silver one...

[Huck]

$2 is a loser. Get him on the 20. Dump Old Hickory. Know one cares for him anymore anyway. Especially the new french looking Jackson.

[gortklattu]

Put Ronnie on the twenty. the Ronnie Twenty as a good ring to it.

[Publius]

Barry Goldwater believed that there should be no public tribute to a man until he had been dead for 50 years and could be judged dispassionately by history. That meant to Barry: No statues, no dollar bills, no coins.

Had we observed that 50 year waiting period, it's possible but unlikely that FDR would have gotten on a coin in 1995. And I can absolutely guarantee you that Jack Kennedy would not get anything when his turn finally came in 2013.

[ambrose]

I tend to agree with Goldwater on this...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

$20.
Forget the coins, the Duce and other currency people don't use.

[Red Badger]

The ten is ok with me. No one knows who Alexander Hamilton was, anyway. Andy Jackson was a Democrat, they would scream bloody murder. Lincoln was a Republican/Independent (2nd term), Cleveland ($50) was a Democrat, too and so was Jefferson ($2). Ben Franklin ($100) was not affiliated I don't believe. So The TEN IS IN. PARITY FOR REPUBLICANS!

[alloysteel]

Dump Andrew Jackson, and replace him on the $20 bill with Ronald Reagan. Old Hickory has had his run, and there aren't two people in ten who could accurately identify Jackson in his historical context.

[Believe_In_The_Singularity]

Put him on the $100 so I can hear the rappers sing, "It's all about the Reagans".

Ha Ha

BITS

[Red Badger]

OOPS! I meant Grant on the 50 and cleveland on the $1000

[Atlas Sneezed]

Reform the currency at the same time.

Dump the penny (a dime is worth a minute of a minimum-wage laborer's time; smaller coins are a drag on retail transactions.)

Phase out the nickel and quarter.

Coin a new half-dollar, sized between dime and dollar coin, with Jefferson's image (needed, for reasons below.)

Dollar coin would become the third smallest coin denomination (instead of the sixth smallest.) Change to Washington's image from welfare mom.

Add a 5-dollar coin with REAGAN's image.

Drop the $1 and $2 bills.

Keep $5, 10, 20, 100, and add $500 bill comparable to 500 Euro note.

(A less radical version of this plan keeps nickels and quarters.)

The above system is equivalent in value to a pre-inflated ~1960 system of penny, nickel, dime, half dollar coin, half dollar bill, $1 bill, $2 bill, $10 bill, and $50 bill. It wasn't radical then, and shouldn't be now.

[Dog Gone]

Replace Sacajawea.

[El Conservador]

Barry Goldwater believed that there should be no public tribute to a man until he had been dead for 50 years and could be judged dispassionately by history. That meant to Barry: No statues, no dollar bills, no coins.

Had we observed that 50 year waiting period, it's possible but unlikely that FDR would have gotten on a coin in 1995. And I can absolutely guarantee you that Jack Kennedy would not get anything when his turn finally came in 2013.

50 years??? Looks like more less than one. Same for FDR. He got his dime in 1946

[zahal724]

Wasn't Alexander Hamilton one of the writers of the Federalist papers?

[zahal724]

Wasn't Alexander Hamilton one of the writers of the Federalist papers?

[Red Badger]

Whatever happened to those coins? I thought they were to replace the 1 dollar bill over time..............

[Red Badger]

yes, I believe he was........

[El Conservador]

Change to Washington's image from welfare mom.

Nice way to refer to Sacajawea. How respectful (/sarcasm).

[HEY4QDEMS]

I know that he was the first Sec. of the Treasury and was one of the founding fathers.

Whether or not he contributed to the federalist papers, I don't know but it shouldn't be to hard to find out.