Reagan's face for $10 bill
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-06-10 09:16

Ronald Reagan may be coming soon to the US$10 bill.

Some of his most ardent admirers, who have spent 10 years promoting memorials to the 40th president, will go into high gear after Friday's funeral to work toward getting Congress to put his face on the US$10 bill.

Grover Norquist, the president of the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, said the 62 things already named for Reagan — from the former National Airport outside Washington to an aircraft carrier to a New Hampshire mountain — were only the beginning.

"We want something significant named for Reagan in every state and every county," Norquist said.

Congress may change the US$10 bill as soon as this month, he said. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, supports the idea, said his spokesman, Jonathan Grella.

“At the national level, the consensus is that we’ll put Reagan on the US$10 bill,” Norquist said. “The leadership of the House and Senate are focused on the US$10 bill. I’ve spent the last three years talking to people on the (Capitol) Hill and the Treasury.”

Of course, putting Reagan on the 10-spot would mean removing Alexander Hamilton, the first treasury secretary and the founding father dearest to conservatives.

Many conservatives dream of putting Reagan on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. First floated in the late 1980s, the idea of carving Reagan into granite alongside Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln thrills supporters, but it probably is not to be.

“The rock that surrounds the sculpted faces is not suitable for further carving,” said Paul Menard, management specialist at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Close

Today's Top News     Top Life News
State bank splits up in pilot reform         Beijingers rally around Olympic relay         Hu signs communique in Warsaw         Officials sacked over fake milk fiasco         Beijing building fire kills 9, injures 39         Lottery scandal lands six officials in jail	Reagan's face for $10 bill       Research: Brain genes start to slow at 40       Olympic flame lights up city       Eating McDonald's, making millions       Shaolin kung fu needs protection       Quarrels do more harms to children than divorce