He already has an airport after him — Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport outside of Washington D.C. And recently, lawmakers unveiled a statue of Reagan at the U.S. Capitol.
Now Republican Rep. Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina wants to sub Reagan on the nation’s $50 bill for President Ulysses S. Grant, a union general during the Civil War who led the North to victory and later became the nation’s 18th POTUS. Grant, a champion for African Americans, died broke, so he probably appreciates the money. But if McHenry has his way, Grant will be retired to the dustbin of history.
“Every generation needs its own heroes,” McHenry said Tuesday. “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 (on the dime) and Kennedy (on the half dollar).”
McHenry did not mention Reaganomics, the theory of trickle-down spending whose viability seems to be in dispute at the moment. The congressman’s case: Polls of presidential scholars consistently show Reagan outranking Grant, including a Wall Street Journal survey in 2005 that ranked Reagan sixth and Grant 29th.