Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, presumably knows a thing or two about money. It says something then that he joined a growing chorus of critics Monday in denouncing the U.S. Treasury’s plan to replace the picture of Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill with that of a woman.
Putting the image of a woman on U.S. currency is not at issue. In itself, that is a splendid idea, and there are a number of worthy candidates. Most frequently mentioned are Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman and Eleanor Roosevelt, although that list could also include Sojourner Truth or any number of others – including Martha Washington, whose image was on a $1 bill for a time in the 19th century.
No, what is wrong with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew’s decision, announced last week, is that whichever woman is chosen would replace Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill. Bernanke and others quite rightly argue that the picture to replace should be that of Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.
Together with the $1 bill, the $20 bill is the most commonly used bill in this country and, therefore, most often seen. Whatever woman is chosen deserves that prominence.
Besides, there is little room for Jackson in the 21st century, while Hamilton – having done so much to create it – might well be right at home in our time.
Jackson is revered for his ready identification with the common man and as a hero of the War of 1812. And that is fair, as far as it goes. Jackson was nothing, if not earthy, and in his time the White House did have more than a few visits from muddy-booted ruffians.
But Jackson was, at heart, an 18th-century frontiersman with a pronounced penchant for violence and racism. He was a slaveholder and proudly did his best to rid the young United States of Native Americans.
More to the point, Jackson had a simplistic and antiquated understanding of money and finance. His policies and actions better reflected his backwoods hatred of cities and elites than any actual economic thinking. Left to him, the United States would never have been able to take full advantage of – let alone lead – the Industrial Revolution.
For that, credit Hamilton. The country’s first Treasury secretary, Hamilton was, in Bernanke’s words, “the best and most foresighted economic policymaker in U.S. history.” The country’s entire financial infrastructure can be traced to him. And with that, so, too, can the United States’ emergence as a world power.
While comfortable in elite circles, Hamilton was the illegitimate son of a British officer in the Caribbean. He came to what would become the United States as a penniless immigrant and ended up creating the most widely accepted, most universally recognized and most valued currency on the planet.
(The $1 and $20 bills are the most frequently used in the United States. Worldwide, the $100 bill is far and away the most common denomination of U.S. currency. The dollar is seen as a relatively safe store of wealth in many other countries, and $100 bills are also convenient for off-the-books transactions.)
More than anyone, Alexander Hamilton deserves to be associated with the dollar and its proud status as the world’s reserve currency. His likeness should stay on the $10 bill and a woman chosen for the $20. Jackson can be remembered for the Battle of New Orleans.
