WASHINGTON — U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced last month that as part of a redesign of the $10 note, he hoped to put a woman on the bill.
“I think we have waited long enough,” Lew said of the move to put a woman on U.S. paper currency for the first time in 100 years.
The initial announcement to remove Hamilton triggered a public outcry.
Critics of the decision complained that Hamilton, the nation’s first Treasury secretary, should be left on the $10 bill.
Instead, they argued, a woman should be featured on the $20 bill in place of Andrew Jackson, because of his treatment of Native Americans.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke wrote in a blog post that he was “appalled” by Lew’s plans to replace Hamilton, calling him “without doubt the best and most foresighted economic policymaker in U.S. history.”
Lew said that Hamilton’s image would be retained in some way on the redesigned bill.
But in trying to save face, his position has drawn fire from Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said a woman should not have to share the $10 bill with a man.
