If you’re like me, perhaps you think that the Reagan deification has gone far enough. Yes, the Berlin Wall came down, and so did the Soviet Union. But that doesn’t make a former actor and dementia-ridden president the best choice to go on the $50 bill, does it?
And besides, doesn’t the $50 already have a dead president on it? You bet — one Ulysses S. Grant.
If you thought that I was shallow enough to feel some sort of special affiliation just because he and I share a name, you’d be right. (Besides, my first, middle and last names are Grant Andrew Hamilton, which nicely match up to the faces on the $50, the $20 and the $10 — Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Jackson and Alexander Hamilton. It makes me feel worth something — about eighty bucks, I guess.)
Plus, my weekly newspaper column is called “Grant’s Tomb” in part honour of Grant’s actual tomb, which Amy and I visited a couple of years ago during a trip to New York. She took this picture (I’m the speck with my arms spread):
Luckily, I’m not the only one opposed to removing Grant from the $50. This op-ed in the New York Times argues that Grant has been the subject of vicious character assassination since his death, and makes an excellent case for him as a good, though flawed, president.
Grant Hamilton
5 Responses to “A plea: Don’t bury Grant”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Reagan would look good on a roll of asswipe, but that’s about it. Nixon wouldn’t rate even that much respect..
Reagan did more to de-industrialize the United States and get that particular ball rolling than anyone else. We take the notion of corporate raiders looting the public purse a bit for granted these days but it was Ronnie who pioneered it.
The only $50 bill he’d be appropriate on is one that’s stuffed in a Wall Street pillager’s pocket, never to be seen by anyone else again.
Then I propose we give Reagan the penny. Lincoln’s on it now, but he’s doubled-up on the $5.
This way we’ll all get to step on Reagan.
Perfect!
Time for another counterinsurgency sweep in the Deep South.