Seems like a fitting send-off for them.
Posted on 08/06/2015 8:17:01 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
I understand why she’s a contender. I understand that she’s a liberal and feminist icon, I understand that she was a champion of human rights and an influential diplomat at the UN, I understand that she redefined the position of First Lady to give it a political resonance it hadn’t had before. But maybe, if the goal here is to break men’s stranglehold on the currency, we shouldn’t start with someone whose appearance on the $10 will ensure that nearly every conversation about it begins this way: “Isn’t her husband much more deserving?” Because he is, you know. Like him or not.
I’m going to chalk this unfortunate result up to senior-citizen nostalgia and name recognition and hope that America eventually concludes that putting a president’s wife on the money maybe isn’t the greatest tribute to female empowerment.
Released on Wednesday, results from a Marist poll show that 27 percent of those surveyed would choose Mrs. Roosevelt. Harriet Tubman, the African-American abolitionist, was the second choice, with 17 percent. Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who served as a translator and guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition, garnered 13 percent of the vote.
A New York Times obituary for Mrs. Roosevelt in 1962 described her as an energetic first lady to Franklin D. Roosevelt — her personality was both a strength and a burden, and, at first, her liveliness prompted criticism and jokes. Over the years, through her involvement with the United Nations and her work for civil rights, admiration for her deepened.
“She had become not only the wife and widow of a towering President,” the obituary read, “but a noble personality in herself.”
You can skim the crosstabs here; Roosevelt’s strongest support, at 37 percent, comes from — ta da — voters aged 60 or over. She leads Harriet Tubman, a superior choice, in every demographic and sub-demographic except two, voters aged 30-44 and African-Americans. I’m surprised that Amelia Earhart doesn’t do better, actually: She may well be the most recognized woman of the choices offered among younger voters, but her best showing in any group is 17 percent (with tea-party supporters). Roosevelt’s worst showing is 19 percent (with blacks).
Maybe part of the reason for Roosevelt’s support is the unspoken assumption that the currency should be reserved for influential heads of state and other former high-ranking government officials. That leaves the pickings mighty slim if you’re intent on featuring a woman. Eleanor Roosevelt may well be the closest thing America has to a beloved woman former president — for now. At a moment when America is poised to hand the presidency to someone whose greatest accomplishment was marrying well, maybe it’s fitting that FDR’s better half, rather than FDR himself, ends up on the money.
Speaking of which, via the Standard, here’s the future inhabitant of the $20 trying on her southern accent again at an event in South Carolina. Exit question: If Oprah had been one of the choices in this poll, she’d probably win, right?
How about: HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, or SUSAN B. ANTHONY or ELIZABETH BLACKWELL or HELEN KELLER ( Yeah, she was a socialist, but then she was deaf and blind, so I'll excuse her for that ).
And if we're thinking of first ladies, I prefer Abigail Adams.
Hamilton was better looking than Eleanor Roosevelt.
Why her? Don’t they know that she was instrumental in getting so many Communists into the Roosevelt administration?
I’m thinking, maybe a transgender version of Karl Marx would be less political.
Dolly Parton!!!
I mean...
Dolly Madison
A lesbian on the $10 bill. Wouldn’t the $3 bill be more appropriate?
Will there be a rainbow behind Eleanor?
Seems like a fitting send-off for them.
I vote for Lucy!<P
Afterall this entire exercise is a joke.
The real issue being the necessity to replace a founder. Streets and various locales are being renamed to reflect the conquest of Anglo America.
RE: Dolly Parton!!!
OK, if that were so, let’s have Marilyn Monroe standing over the subway with her flying skirt.
Men all over the world will be hoarding those bills...
Why not Lady Liberty? She was on most of our coinage prior to the 20th century.
RE: Hamilton was better looking than Eleanor Roosevelt.
So, what ever happened to Franklin’s taste in women?
Sadly that is on the Plus side of her ledger for this government.
Most Americans regurgitate the slogans and cliches they hear. Who is a famous historical woman? Uhhh, Eleanor Roosevelt?
And why? What was her contribution to humanity? Uhhh, No f***** clue!
One thing about having a ten dollar bill with Eleanore Roosevelts picture on it is that it won’t be in your wallet long.She’s just not Photogenic.
I would trade that 10 in for two fives in know time.
Why don’t they put margaret sanger on there?
I think Helen Thomas should be on the ten dollar bill because it would really stimulate the economy. Think about it: if you took a ten dollar bill out of your wallet and saw her staring back at you, you’d want to get rid of that bill as quickly as possible, so you’d go out and spend it somewhere. The person who received the bill from you would also want to get rid of it, and so on, and so on...
Alexander Hamilton, taking a dump, is better looking than Eleanor Roosevelt.
The Canadians have their Loony and their Toony...we will have our Harridan.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.