# Should the DC suway system be forced to name a station after Reagan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 17, 2001, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-dc-suway-system-be-forced-to-name-a-station-after-reagan/58336 "2001-03-17T03:57:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2001, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-dc-suway-system-be-forced-to-name-a-station-after-reagan/58336/41 "2001-07-05T13:03:36Z")
I think some Democrat should attempt to attach a rider to Sen. Barr’s initiative requiring that, should Metro be forced to rename the National Airport stop, they also must rename the Stadium/Armory stop to “Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium/DC Armory.” I bet Barr would drop it like a hot rock. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2001, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-dc-suway-system-be-forced-to-name-a-station-after-reagan/58336/42 "2001-07-05T13:40:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FortMarcy \* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by ElvisL1ves \* > > As was the strict-partisan-lines vote in Congress to rename the airport in the first place, don’t forget. > > Not strict partisan lines: > Senate vote: 76-22 > House vote: 240-186 > President: Clinton Serves me right for trusting memory. Thanks for the numbers. OK, they were not “strict” partisan lines, but they were clearly predominantly partisan nevertheless. Left unresearchable are the backroom deals that must have gone into Democratic acquiescence to creating yet another shrine to the venerable Saint Ronald. I wonder where the reliquary is - in the new USAir Shuttle terminal? > [@](#): > > The airport does in fact reside mainly in the District. It was built on land reclaimed from the Potomac. This land is considered part of D.C. The airport did subsequently expand into Arlington, though. If you say so, and it really doesn’t matter for purposes of this debate since it’s about the subway and not the airport, but: Every map I’ve seen of the area has the state/district line hugging the Virginia shoreline, right along the airport boundary. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2001, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-dc-suway-system-be-forced-to-name-a-station-after-reagan/58336/43 "2001-07-06T22:48:34Z")
The simple solution is to re-rename the airport “Reagan Airport” and spend 1-2 billion in ad campain (at our (taxpayers) expense) so it is so ingrained in the public mind that it will force the DC subway system to change the name because they will be so sick and tired of telling everyone who wants to go to the Reagan Airport they will have to go to National Airport. And only one sentance 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2001, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-dc-suway-system-be-forced-to-name-a-station-after-reagan/58336/44 "2001-07-07T07:20:33Z")
Well, the airport (and subway outside it) is part of Arlington county, not part of DC. You pay Arlington county sales tax, are subject to Arlington county law, etc, and even if it’s on land that was reclaimed from the Potomac, that wouldn’t change that fact, because the border of the area retroceeded to Virginia was defined as the Potomac. The Metro is following its standard proceedure here. The fact that it’s policy to restrict name changes to the local jurisdiction, and not law requiring them to do so is immaterial. If that’s the policy, then if the change needs to be made, it can be done by complying with policy. If Arlington county doesn’t want the name changed, why is there a need to change the name? It’s not due to confusion. No one sees the metro stop “National Airport” and thinks of Dulles or BWI, and most of the conductors announce the stop as “Ronald Reagan National Airport”. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-dc-suway-system-be-forced-to-name-a-station-after-reagan/58336/45 "2001-07-09T01:20:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by drewbert \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by capacitor \* > > \*\*Damn, they want Reagan on the $10 bill? and kick off the only Black person in a bill (Hamilton) to do this??? Stanley Crouch is right, Bob Barr et al. are racists. \*\* > > Uh, can we come back to this for a second? > > **Cap**? Um… WTF? \*\* Rachel Fawcett Lavien, Hamilton’s mother was by some accounts a mulatto from St. Nevis. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-dc-suway-system-be-forced-to-name-a-station-after-reagan/58336/46 "2001-07-09T02:01:38Z")
Any cite? According to [this biography,](http://c-span.org/guide/books/booknotes/chapter/fc091398.htm) Rachel Fawcett was indeed born on St. Nevis, but of European parents: > [@](#): > > Rachel herself was probably born in Nevis in 1729, and was eleven or so when her parents, John Fawcett, a physician of Huguenot extraction, and her mother, Mary, Fawcett’s second wife, separated. I couldn’t find any suggestion that Hamilton’s mother might have been of mixed race. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-dc-suway-system-be-forced-to-name-a-station-after-reagan/58336/47 "2001-07-10T00:32:30Z")
Hmm, it seems that Black History Magazine, from where I got my source, is not online at the time. Oh well, even Microsoft goes offline from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-dc-suway-system-be-forced-to-name-a-station-after-reagan/58336/48 "2001-07-10T16:59:39Z")
I was at National last night to pick up a friend. I arrived a little early, and had the opportunity to notice three things: 1. The nice lady who makes announcements over the PA every 15 minutes or so about how you shouldn’t leave bags unattended, etc. said most distinctly “welcome to **Washington National Airport** ; please do not leave your luggage unattended, don’t take packages from strangers, etc…” So it seems like the building management still wants to use Washington’s name. 2. The few restaurants & cafes in the terminal that had “Washington National” in their names haven’t changed their signage. 3. Short term parking is 7¢ a freaking minute! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-dc-suway-system-be-forced-to-name-a-station-after-reagan/58336.md?page=2)