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Supporters want to see his face on the $10 bill and a memorial at the National Mall. Others ask: What's the rush?
By BILL ADAIR
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 19, 2000
WASHINGTON -- There's no shortage of things named after former President Ronald Reagan.
There is Reagan Airport in Washington, the Reagan Turnpike in Florida and the Reagan Suite at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. There's a Reagan Peace Garden in Eureka, Ill., the Reagan Freeway in Southern California and the new USS Ronald Reagan, a nuclear powered aircraft carrier.
That's not enough for the Gipper's loyal supporters. They're trying to build a memorial on the National Mall in Washington, where a statue of Reagan might some day rub elbows with Lincoln and Jefferson.
Last week, the House Resources Committee approved a bill that would give Reagan a prime spot on the Mall, despite a law that delays such decisions until at least 25 years after the person has died.
Rep. James Hansen, R-Utah, co-sponsor of the bill, says Reagan deserves a memorial because he "helped restore the American people's faith in our system of government . . . and returned pride in being an American."
But the bill is opposed by many Democrats and the federal commissioners who oversee the city's monuments. They say that the Mall, the 2-mile grassy strip between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, is a sacred place and that monumental decisions should not be hurried or colored by politics.
"I think we are just rushing this whole thing," says Charles Atherton, secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts, which must approve new monuments. "It's nice to get some sort of historical perspective before we put a memorial on the Mall."
Yet those concerns haven't deterred Reagan lovers.
They say the former president, now suffering from Alzheimer's disease, deserves more recognition.
A private group called the Reagan Legacy Project is trying to get something named for him in each of the nation's 3,066 counties. The group's leader also has an ambitious national goal: He wants to get Reagan's face on the $10 bill.
After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, there was a rush to name things after him. There are at least 600 Kennedy schools, roads and other structures around the country.
In schools alone, there are 180 named for Kennedy (a small portion might be for Robert F. Kennedy), a whopping 628 for Abraham Lincoln and only 12 for Reagan, according to Powerfinder 2000, a national telephone directory.
Many Republicans have long been envious of the Kennedy naming blitz. They wince because the Kennedy streets and schools are a constant reminder of a prominent liberal. How can you raise a new generation of conservatives if the kids are graduating from Kennedy High?
"Conservatives tend to be not as good as liberals in glorifying and memorializing their heroes," says Michael Kamburowski, executive director of the Reagan Legacy Project.
He says his crusade is "a battle for history, to enshrine Reagan's memory in people's minds."
In the nation's capital, Reagan is honored by two big landmarks: the airport and a federal office building.
The proposal to rename the airport drew much opposition when it was considered in 1998. Opponents said Congress was meddling in the affairs of the local airport authority, a strong-arm maneuver that Reagan, the loyal states' rights advocate, would surely frown upon. But the bill passed and was signed by President Clinton.
"We were surprised by the speed by which it happened," Kamburowski says.
The other big Gipper tribute in Washington is the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, which has been dubbed "the crown jewel of Pennsylvania Avenue."
When the grandiose office building-conference center opened two years ago, it was derided by critics as a cathedral to Big Government -- an odd memorial to the conservative president. Among federal buildings, it is second in size only to the Pentagon, and it houses two agencies -- the Customs Service and the Environmental Protection Agency -- that Reagan particularly disliked.
But supporters thought it was a nice tribute.
Said then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, "If you have a big building, why not name it after a big president?"
The Reagan Legacy Project says there are 36 roads, places and things named after Reagan. Many are clustered around his home in the Los Angeles area and his birthplace in Illinois. Among them:
Seven roads and a bridge.
A commemorative stamp collection from Grenada.
The Reagan Suite at the Century Plaza Hotel, a lavish place that includes bowls of Reagan's favorite jelly beans. It costs $5,400 per night.
The Mall is the heart of Washington, a strip of parks and monuments used every day by thousands of tourists, joggers and the bureaucrats that Reagan disliked so much.
It is the site of the July 4th fireworks display, the spring kite festival and countless protests, such as the Million Mom March in favor of gun control.
The Mall's gravel walkways link the U.S. Capitol with the Smithsonian museums, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, where a statue of the 16th president keeps an eye on the city.
The commissioners who oversee the Mall are concerned that too many groups want to put memorials here, leaving little room to honor the heroes of the future.
"Everybody wants to be where the action is, where the tour buses go," says Atherton of the Fine Arts Commission.
He says it's too soon to make a judgment about Reagan's historical significance. That's why the law requires that someone be dead for at least 25 years before a memorial can be approved. The bill in Congress would bypass that requirement.
Opposing the bill is "not a rejection of the affection for the man," Atherton says. "It's respect for a legal process."
Says Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.: "There are already enough monuments on the Mall. There ought to be an inherent prejudice against further monuments."
But many conservatives think Reagan has earned a place there. The bill doesn't specify what the memorial should include or what it should look like, but the bill says it should be located in the prime real estate between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial.
Kamburowski says Reagan deserves the high-profile monument because he won the Cold War and rescued the economy. Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla., says it's justified because the former president is "one of the great men of this century."
The bill's prospects are uncertain. Congress has much to do in its final month before adjourning, so there may not be time to consider the bill. But Republican leaders, who might lose control of the House in November, love the idea of again honoring one of their heroes.
Kamburowski still has high hopes that Congress next year will consider a bill to put Reagan's face on the $10 bill.
Having Reagan on the bill "would be phenomenal," he says. A $10 bill "is universal, it's instantly recognizeable."
His group originally wanted Reagan on the $20, but decided on the $10 for political reasons. Andrew Jackson, still beloved by many Democrats, is on the $20. "Given that Jackson is seen as the father of the Democratic Party, that would have been seen as too political, maybe a little bit mean."
Alexander Hamilton, the face on the $10, is not so widely known or loved, so it should be easier to replace his face with Reagan's, Kamburowski says.
He says GOP leaders like the idea of Reagan on the $10 bill.
"It's a high priority for the Republican leadership. Unfortunately, you have to wait for Ronald Reagan to pass away to get any progress on it."
-- Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report.
Here's a list of bridges, schools, roads and other places that have been named after former President Ronald Reagan:
1. Ronald Reagan Fundamental School, Yuma, AZ [1984]
2. Ronald Reagan Freeway, CA (State Route 118) [December 7, 1994]
3. Ronald W. Reagan Educational Center, Fresno, CA
4. Ronald Reagan State Office Building, Los Angeles, CA [1990]
5. Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse, Santa Ana, CA [February 1999]
6. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs, Simi Valley, CA [1991]
7. Reagan Center, Los Angeles, CA
8. Ronald Reagan Suite, Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, CA [1999]
9. Ronald Reagan Professor, School of Public Policy (Pepperdine University), Malibu, CA [1999]
10. Reagan Ranch Historical Trust (Young America's Foundation), Santa Barbara, CA
11. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center [to open in 2004]
12. Ronald Reagan Avenue, Miami, FL
13. Ronald Reagan Turnpike, FL
14. Ronald Reagan Drive, Columbia County, Augusta, GA [effective December 1, 2000]
15. Ronald Reagan Parkway, Lawrenceville, GA
16. Reagan Center at Eureka College, Eureka, IL [1961]
17. Ronald Reagan Birthplace, Tampico, IL
18. Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home, Dixon, IL
19. Ronald Reagan Bridge, Dixon, IL
20. Ronald Reagan Middle School, Dixon, IL
21. Ronald Reagan Highway (U.S. 14), IL
22. Ronald & Nancy Reagan Research Institute (Alzheimer's Foundation), Chicago, IL
23. Ronald Reagan Historical Marker, Des Moines, IA [November 9, 1999]
24. Ronald Reagan Boulevard, Warwick, NY
25. Ronald Reagan Highway, Cincinnati, OH
26. Statue at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Oklahoma City, OK
27. Reagan Foundation for Conservative Studies (Texas A&M University), Bryan, TX
28. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Arlington, VA.
29. The Ronald Reagan nuclear aircraft carrier (CVN 77) [to be completed by 2002]
30. Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University Hospital, Washington, D.C. [1991]
31. Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, D.C. [May 5, 1998]
32. Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy (Heritage Foundation), Washington, D.C.
33. Ronald Wilson Reagan Republican Center (National Republican Senatorial Committee), Washington, D.C.
34. Ronald Reagan Communications Center (National Republican Congressional Committee), Washington, D.C.
35. Ronald Reagan Scholarship Fund, Grenada [1996]
36. Grenada Salutes Ronald Reagan, Leader of Freedom (commemorative stamp collection), Grenada [1996]
Source: Reagan Legacy Project