Andrew Jackson has been on the 20 dollar
bill since 1928, but the new bills will
instead have Harriet Tubman (who risked
her life conducting escaped slaves to
safety).
Jackson was an interesting character. In
his favor, it is worth noting he was the
first president from the western frontier.
His six predecessors were all from the
east coast. His immediate predecessor,
John Quincy Adams, even was the son of a previous
president. It was a sign of expanding
democracy when Jackson was elected, although
his supporters did cause a bit of disorder
in the White House on inauguration day.
Jackson is noted for being the general
that defeated the British at the battle
of New Orleans in January of 1815.
The war had come to an end with a treaty
signed in December of 1814, but Jackson
can’t be blamed for not knowing this because
news travelled slowly in those days.
Was Jackson honored with the 20 dollar bill
because of his astute grasp of monetary policy?
He vetoed the bill that would have extended
the charter of the Second Bank of the United
States. However, he was an advocate of hard
money (that is, gold or silver coin, but
not paper money). His veto allowed many state-chartered
banks to issue excessive notes and effectivly
establish a policy that was the opposite of
hard money. So, if you were an advocate of
easy money, you would like what he did but
not what he said (while hard money advocates
would like what he said but not what he did).
He might have been confused as to
the effect of his veto (see Galbraith, Money:
Whence it Came, Where it Went, 1975, page 82).
In the battle over money, neither the hard
money side nor the easy money side was necessarily
right. Ideally there will be some kind of a
balance between society’s need for enough money without
there being too much money.
……………..
–Douglas Downing
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