Hamilton fans upset about his demotion off $10 bill

Could be replaced by woman

WASHINGTON — The gain for women in landing a promised spot on U.S. paper currency stands to be a big loss for one Founding Father — and his supporters aren’t pleased.

The announcement that a woman would appear on U.S. currency for the first time in more than a century has been widely applauded. But the decision by Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew to place the yet-unnamed female on the $10 bill, which for more than eight decades has featured Alexander Hamilton, is drawing a sharp backlash.

Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he was “appalled” that Hamilton, the first Treasury secretary, was being demoted.

New York Atty. Gen. Eric T. Schneiderman also urged Lew publicly to “honor Hamilton by leaving him where he is.”

Columnists and editorial boards have made similar pleas. Hamilton fans have established #SaveHamilton on Twitter. And two petitions have been launched on the White House website urging President Barack Obama to keep Hamilton as the face of the $10 bill.

Even the head of the organization that has been pushing for a woman’s image to be placed on paper currency — it preferred the more ubiquitous $20 bill — said she didn’t want the victory to come at Hamilton’s expense.

“We certainly had not set out to displace one of our great founders and architects of our country,” said Barbara Ortiz Howard, founder of Women on 20s. “That wasn’t our intention.”

Lew said that Hamilton’s image still will be on the $10 bill in some way and that the decision about which denomination would feature a woman was made based on the next bill scheduled for an update.

“Alexander Hamilton has left an enduring mark on our nation’s history,” Lew said this month. “That is why we will make sure that his image will remain a part of the $10 note.”

Howard said her group wouldn’t be pleased if a woman has to share the $10 bill with a man.

And Hamilton’s supporters said he is too important in American history to be relegated to a secondary position.

“It is hard to understand that the current secretary of the Treasury would diminish the first secretary of the Treasury,” said Rand Scholet, a Florida businessman who founded the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society in 2011 to promote his life and legacy. “It’s really baffling.”

Hamilton’s supporters admit he’s not the most well-known founding father. He never was elected president and died relatively young, before he turned 50, after a duel with then-Vice President Aaron Burr.

Hamilton backers feel he has a strong claim to a spot on paper money because he’s widely viewed as the father of the nation’s financial system.

Hamilton rose to become a trusted aide to George Washington during the American Revolution and a major force in ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

As Treasury secretary, he consolidated war debts, set up a tax-collection system and introduced plans for the U.S. Mint.

Bernanke pointed out that Hamilton founded the nation’s first major private bank and oversaw the chartering of the First Bank of the United States, a precursor to the Federal Reserve.

It is hard to understand that the current secretary of the Treasury would diminish the first secretary of the Treasury. It’s really baffling.” Rand Scholet, founder of the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society