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The $50 question: Grant or Reagan? - CNN.com
(CNN) -- Should Ulysses S. Grant, the legendary Union general and 18th president of the United States, be bumped from his 96-year stint on the $50 bill?
Yes, according to one North Carolina Republican.
Rep. Patrick McHenry announced that he will introduce a measure that would replace Grant's face with Ronald Reagan's, just in time for the 40th president's 100th birthday next February.
"President Reagan was a modern day statesman, whose presidency transformed our nation's political and economic thinking," McHenry said in a statement. "Through both his domestic and international policies he renewed America's self confidence, defeated the Soviets and taught us that each generation must provide opportunity for the next."
McHenry says it's only logical for Reagan to replace Grant on the $50 bill because several historians have ranked Reagan as a much better president than Grant. McHenry specifically cites a 2005 Wall Street Journal survey of scholars who placed Reagan at No. 6 and Grant at No. 29.
"Every generation needs its own heroes," McHenry also said. "One decade into the 21st century, it's time to honor the last great president of the 20th and give President Reagan a place beside Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy."
Franklin Roosevelt's face currently appears on the dime while John F. Kennedy's image is on the half-dollar.
But not so fast, says Dr. John Marszalek, the executive director and managing editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Association.
Calling him a "beacon" of the 19th century, Marszalek said Grant deserves to keep his prominent spot on America's currency.
"His work in battling against inflation and getting the currency on stable footing opened the way for the economy boom of the late 19th century, Marszalek told CNN. "I don't know why he wouldn't be included, except people forget. It's been a long time."
Marszalek also named a host of other Grant accomplishments, including efforts to promote the rights of freed slaves and native Americans, as well as his post-presidency, two-year tour of the world during which he negotiated the settlement of a dispute between Japan and China.
But the Grant administration was also beset by major scandals -- close to a dozen in all -- which is a primary reason that Grant had difficulty working with Congress and why many modern historians continue to rank the 18th president relatively low.
Still, Marszalek says Grant's death in 1885 was a "national phenomenon" and is "still the biggest funeral any American has had to this day."
Every generation needs its own heroes.
--Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-North Carolina
Grant supporters can rest easy for now, though -- the future of the legislation is highly in doubt. It would first have to clear the House Financial Services Committee where at least one Democrat is already expressing his opposition to the move.
"History has made its verdict," Rep. Brad Sherman of California told CNN. "Reagan's policies are controversial. Grant was in favor of winning the Civil War and keeping the Union together. The currency is not a place to score cheap political points."
It's not the first time Republican lawmakers have sought to immortalize Reagan's image on American currency. In 2004, Rep. Mark Souder introduced legislation to put Reagan on the dime in place of Roosevelt. Souder dropped the move after Nancy Reagan publicly opposed the measure.
In the years since Reagan's death, GOP lawmakers have also considered, though abandoned, legislation placing Reagan on the $10 bill, in place of Alexander Hamilton, and on the $20 bill, in place of Andrew Jackson.
(CNN) -- Should Ulysses S. Grant, the legendary Union general and 18th president of the United States, be bumped from his 96-year stint on the $50 bill?
Yes, according to one North Carolina Republican.
Rep. Patrick McHenry announced that he will introduce a measure that would replace Grant's face with Ronald Reagan's, just in time for the 40th president's 100th birthday next February.
"President Reagan was a modern day statesman, whose presidency transformed our nation's political and economic thinking," McHenry said in a statement. "Through both his domestic and international policies he renewed America's self confidence, defeated the Soviets and taught us that each generation must provide opportunity for the next."
McHenry says it's only logical for Reagan to replace Grant on the $50 bill because several historians have ranked Reagan as a much better president than Grant. McHenry specifically cites a 2005 Wall Street Journal survey of scholars who placed Reagan at No. 6 and Grant at No. 29.
"Every generation needs its own heroes," McHenry also said. "One decade into the 21st century, it's time to honor the last great president of the 20th and give President Reagan a place beside Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy."
Franklin Roosevelt's face currently appears on the dime while John F. Kennedy's image is on the half-dollar.
But not so fast, says Dr. John Marszalek, the executive director and managing editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Association.
Calling him a "beacon" of the 19th century, Marszalek said Grant deserves to keep his prominent spot on America's currency.
"His work in battling against inflation and getting the currency on stable footing opened the way for the economy boom of the late 19th century, Marszalek told CNN. "I don't know why he wouldn't be included, except people forget. It's been a long time."
Marszalek also named a host of other Grant accomplishments, including efforts to promote the rights of freed slaves and native Americans, as well as his post-presidency, two-year tour of the world during which he negotiated the settlement of a dispute between Japan and China.
But the Grant administration was also beset by major scandals -- close to a dozen in all -- which is a primary reason that Grant had difficulty working with Congress and why many modern historians continue to rank the 18th president relatively low.
Still, Marszalek says Grant's death in 1885 was a "national phenomenon" and is "still the biggest funeral any American has had to this day."
Every generation needs its own heroes.
--Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-North Carolina
Grant supporters can rest easy for now, though -- the future of the legislation is highly in doubt. It would first have to clear the House Financial Services Committee where at least one Democrat is already expressing his opposition to the move.
"History has made its verdict," Rep. Brad Sherman of California told CNN. "Reagan's policies are controversial. Grant was in favor of winning the Civil War and keeping the Union together. The currency is not a place to score cheap political points."
It's not the first time Republican lawmakers have sought to immortalize Reagan's image on American currency. In 2004, Rep. Mark Souder introduced legislation to put Reagan on the dime in place of Roosevelt. Souder dropped the move after Nancy Reagan publicly opposed the measure.
In the years since Reagan's death, GOP lawmakers have also considered, though abandoned, legislation placing Reagan on the $10 bill, in place of Alexander Hamilton, and on the $20 bill, in place of Andrew Jackson.
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