Reagan money push builds, but whom would he bump?

As admirers' proposals rapidly jell, Ulysses Grant emerges as the figure least likely to stay on U.S. currency.

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WASHINGTON - After a week of tributes and eulogies to President Ronald Reagan, his admirers plan to move quickly with a proposal to put his face on coins or currency.

Putting Reagan on the $10 or $20 bill has the strongest backing right now. But that could prompt an unusual battle pitting Reaganites against supporters of Andrew Jackson, the populist president on the $20, or against the fans of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father on the $10 who has had a resurgence in popularity.

On Capitol Hill last week, there were discussions of dollar-bill musical chairs: Reagan to the $10, Hamilton to the $50, while Ulysses Grant, the face on the $50, would be eliminated. That approach is based on the belief that Grant doesn't have as much lobbying clout in the nation's capital as Jackson or Hamilton.

Others would like Reagan on a coin.

Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Chumuckla, introduced a bill to put him on the half-dollar, although Reagan would displace John F. Kennedy, a move that might prompt an outcry from Democrats.

And then there's a compromise approach: put Reagan on half the dimes, leaving Franklin Roosevelt on the other half.

No matter what strategy congressional leaders choose, it's likely they will move quickly to take advantage of the warm feelings about Reagan prompted by last week's funerals and televised tributes.

"There's a lot of momentum to do something like this," said Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Melbourne, a co-sponsor of one of the dime proposals.

Supporters say Reagan deserves the honor because of his accomplishments battling communism and keeping peace in the world.

Miller said Reagan "won the Cold War without (firing) a shot" and "was truly the original compassionate conservative."

Grover Norquist, the chairman of the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, which promotes tributes and memorials to Reagan, calls him "the greatest president of the 20th century."

But some people balk at the idea of honoring him so quickly and say there already are many buildings and roads honoring him.

"I think it's premature, this rush to put his face on everything," said historian Robert Dallek. "I think you really need to allow 25 or 50 or even 100 years go by."

Norquist, an influential adviser to the Bush administration and the president of Americans for Tax Reform, spoke with Capitol Hill staffers last week to plot strategy.

"There is a consensus Reagan will be put on the $10, the $20 or the $50," Norquist said.

It appears the Bush administration does not need congressional approval to change coins or currency, but Norquist said the administration would prefer the backing of Congress, either from a resolution passed by both houses or even a letter signed by many members.

Supporters of the Reagan effort hope to avoid the opposition they encountered when they renamed Washington's National Airport after Reagan six years ago. But they are aware that bumping a popular figure from a coin or bill may draw complaints.

Some members of Congress do not want to displace Hamilton, the subject of a bestselling biography by Ron Chernow.

"I think Alexander Hamilton played a much bigger role in founding this nation than he is credited for," Weldon said.

Jackson is beloved by many Democrats because of his efforts to help ordinary people, but he isn't in vogue like Hamilton, and some Republicans are cool to him.

Jackson "was a major figure," Weldon said. "But I don't think he was as major a figure as Hamilton."

The proposals were still taking shape last week and supporters of the effort had not decided on their final strategy. But Grant was emerging as the most likely figure to get displaced.

"I think Grant's greater accomplishments were more on the field of battle than as a political leader," Weldon said.

The Founding Fathers didn't like the idea of putting people's portraits on money. They didn't want anything in the new country to remind people of monarchy, according to Beth Deisher, editor of Coin World, a magazine for coin collectors.

Instead, the founders required that the first coins depict liberty rather than a specific person. The coins had images of women to represent liberty. Portraits of prominent Americans did not appear on federal currency until the Civil War and weren't on circulating coins until 1909, Deisher said.

There aren't many laws about who can appear on money. For most U.S. coins, a portrait can be changed after it has been in circulation for 25 years. Currency cannot depict anyone who is alive, Deisher said.

The treasury secretary could change the coins or currency without consulting Congress, but recent changes, such as the state quarter program and the new Lewis and Clark nickels, have been made at the request of Congress.

Miller, an avid coin collector, introduced the half-dollar proposal because he says the coins would be more affordable for young people than currency.

He would prefer not to bump anyone, but he said that Kennedy has had a good 40-year run on the half-dollar and that Reagan would be an ideal replacement.

Another proposal would put Reagan on half the dimes and keep Franklin Roosevelt on the other half, but that idea lost support last week as Republicans got more enthusiastic about putting Reagan on the $10 bill.

Deisher, the editor of Coin World, suggested Reagan be on a new $2 coin. She said other countries have similar coins and that putting Reagan on a new coin would displace no other prominent Americans.

It would be a fitting honor, she said, because Reagan rejuvenated the commemorative coin program and was popular with collectors.

"Reagan was a visionary," she said. Reagan "had more influence on coinage than any president except Teddy Roosevelt."

Last week, Democrats and historians were reluctant to criticize the proposals out of respect for the Reagan family. But they have balked at past efforts to memorialize him.

Many opposed the renaming of National Airport after Reagan and, for several years, the Democratic officials in Arlington County, Va., would not allow signs at the airport subway station to mention his name.

Opponents say not enough time has passed since Reagan's presidency to determine whether he warrants having his face on coins or currency.

"In a sense, Reagan is still an unproven quantity," said Dallek, the historian. "It takes sometimes 25 or 35 years for historians to get into the documentary records and make sense of an administration."

Supporters of Reagan currency still have several hurdles to overcome.

The proposal not only needs the support of the Bush administration (Bush last week declined to say whether he backed the idea), it probably needs the approval of Nancy Reagan.

She opposed a bill to bump Roosevelt off all dimes, but Norquist says her comments indicate she would be open to the currency idea.

Norquist says the government has typically put presidents on a coin soon after they died. For example, it took less than a year after Kennedy was killed to put him on the half-dollar, a move that occurred without controversy. So Norquist says it is appropriate to move quickly.

"The way to keep it out of partisan politics is to do it now rather than just before the election," he said. "The further away from the election, the less politicized it will be."

Dallek says it was appropriate to put Kennedy on a coin quickly because he was assassinated. But he says there should be no hurry for Reagan. "Why this rush to judgment?"

- Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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