# Who should we put on the $50 bill? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 4, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267 "2010-03-04T13:04:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/21 "2010-03-04T16:14:26Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > We should insist on George W. Bush, and then compromise on Reagan. That’ll show 'em! Knowing how democrats pre-compromised on health care, I think they would propose Teddy Roosevelt first and after all was said and done, we would end up putting William Henry Harrison in. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/22 "2010-03-04T16:14:48Z")
Have you considered your great artists or scientists? Reagan was an actor, true, but not a very good one. How about sticking Richard Feynman on some money? ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/23 "2010-03-04T16:25:10Z")
We should put Mao Zedong on it before we don’t have any choice. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/24 "2010-03-04T16:27:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Have you considered your great artists or scientists? From the OP: > [@](#): > > Who else? Why not scientists, engineers, military leaders who didn’t get to be president, diplomats, etc. Other countries do this, so we should – I’ve got a French bill with Pierre de Fermat on it. We’ve got plenty of folks to choose from. We can put Immanuel Velikovsky on one and really freak everyone out. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/25 "2010-03-04T16:28:48Z")
Shatner (Sackie wasn’t a US citizen either) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/26 "2010-03-04T16:36:23Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > From the OP: Well, consider me chastized. Three monitors across two benches mean I skim some things. > [@](#): > > Other countries do this, so we should – I’ve got a French bill with Pierre de Fermat on it. We’ve got plenty of folks to choose from. England put Darwin on one of their bills. Too bad he’s not American, because putting him on currency would upset the creationists and I like that. > [@](#): > > We can put Immanuel Velikovsky on one and really freak everyone out. Was von Daniken American? He’s equally suitable as a nut, and at least as sane a choice as Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/27 "2010-03-04T16:37:52Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Shatner > > (Sackie wasn’t a US citizen either) Do that and I’ll immigrate to the States. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/28 "2010-03-04T16:40:04Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Seems like there’s a Kennedy-something pretty much everywhere. And, wasn’t he also on the 50 cent piece? Maybe this trend started in the early sixties. We could redo currency faces from scratch, and put a different Kennedy on each. God knows there have been enough of them. The United States of Kennedy. ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/29 "2010-03-04T16:46:16Z")
Whoever is put on it, the most important thing would be to add some vibrant color. I hate having to read every bill before I give it to a clerk to make sure it is a $1 and not a $10. And don’t give me “the new bills have color”. If you can’t tell which bill is which from a very casual glance it doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/30 "2010-03-04T16:48:48Z")
> [@This\_Just\_In\_2](#): > > Whoever is put on it, the most important thing would be to add some vibrant color. I hate having to read every bill before I give it to a clerk to make sure it is a $1 and not a $10. > > And don’t give me “the new bills have color”. If you can’t tell which bill is which from a very casual glance it doesn’t count. Sure, color would be nice. What would be nicer, in the sense of “compliant with federal law,” would be to make the bills in different sizes, so the blind and low-vision community could more easily manage money. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/31 "2010-03-04T16:52:14Z")
Martin Luther King. Actually, it might be amusing for the Dems to offer the Pubs a deal to put Ronnie on the 50 if they also agree to put MLK on the 20. There’s no way and hell those southern Pubs would ever be willing to put a black man on money (their constituents would go no nuts. They already think they’re in some kind of racial cold war. Putting MLK on money would make thm insane), but it wouild be entertaining towatch them twist and squirm to explain why MLK is a less worthy historical figure than Ronnie Raygun. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/32 "2010-03-04T16:57:51Z")
Barack Obama. What? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/33 "2010-03-04T17:02:31Z")
Considering that being dead is a requirement, I’d be good with GWB and Dick Cheney in a dual portrait, as long as they do it this year. 😛 😃 Seriously, though, if Reagan is ever put on a piece of currency, I will refuse to ever have one in my possession. Not that I carry fifties around all that often. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/34 "2010-03-04T17:03:44Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I fall far from the Reagan worshipers on the political spectrum, however, I have no problem putting him on the fifty. > > That way if his cultists want to line their underwear with $50 bills so they can remain in a constant state of Ronniecstasy more power to them (keeps them off the streets). > > Honestly, when was the last time you held a $50 in your hand? Not all that long ago. My in-laws tend to give cash gifts (it’s traditional in Chinese culture), and sometimes it’s a 50. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/35 "2010-03-04T17:04:42Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Do that and I’ll immigrate to the States. That’s awfully magnanimous of you, but why do you assume we _want_ you here? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/36 "2010-03-04T17:04:57Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Martin Luther King. > > Actually, it might be amusing for the Dems to offer the Pubs a deal to put Ronnie on the 50 if they also agree to put MLK on the 20. There’s no way and hell those southern Pubs would ever be willing to put a black man on money (their constituents would go no nuts. They already think they’re in some kind of racial cold war. Putting MLK on money would make thm insane), but it wouild be entertaining towatch them twist and squirm to explain why MLK is a less worthy historical figure than Ronnie Raygun. I think a better compromise would be to put Ronnie in blackface on the 20. Everyone is happy and racism finally dies a quiet death. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/37 "2010-03-04T17:06:45Z")
> [@Piker](#): > > I love the idea of putting FDR and Reagan on opposite sides of the dime, forcing endless arguments between liberals and conservatives about which said is heads and which side is tails. What’s to argue about? Everyone knows Reagan was a HUGE ASS. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/38 "2010-03-04T17:07:30Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > I’m with **Una** although the US is definitely not alone in having revered national figures on their currency (I can’t think of a country that doesn’t, actually) South Africa has the [Big Five Game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_game) on our notes - the obvious disadvantage being you have nowhere to go after that… ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/39 "2010-03-04T17:11:52Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Fuck John Adams right in the neck! Were he alive today, half of the SDMB would be in jail. Authoritarian prick. > > I’m OK with Grant, but if a change must be made, I’d go with Teddy Roosevelt. They tried to put Teddy Roosevelt on a bill, but it just ended up punching them in the face and immolating itself. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267/40 "2010-03-04T17:15:04Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > They tried to put Teddy Roosevelt on a bill, but it just ended up punching them in the face and immolating itself. When did Teddy set himself aflame? I can see it blocking a bullet and \*still \*buying a round for the house, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-put-on-the-50-bill/531267.md?page=3)