Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

A woman could be replacing Jackson on the $20 bill — and Hamilton stays on the $10

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Andrew Jackson is on his way out.

This week, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is expected to announce that Jackson’s image will be taken off the $20 bill and replaced by a woman, CNN reported.

The woman to take his place, Harriet Tubman, is meant to illustrate the struggles of racial inequality, sources told Politico. However, the change likely won’t be seen in circulation until 2030, due to the long design and anti-counterfeit process.

The announcement comes as a shift from Lew’s initial announcement last year that a woman would share the $10 bill with Alexander Hamilton and also be featured on the back of bills.

With Hamilton’s growing celebrity status — thanks to a popular Broadway musical that shares his name — the prospect of having the first woman featured on paper currency in more than 100 years split the bill with a beloved figure in United States history struck ire with Americans.

More than 600,000 people petitioned the Treasury in a 10-week campaign to instead replace Jackson last May. Women on 20s, an advocacy group working to get a woman featured on the $20 bill, wrote in an open letter to Lew last week, “[R]elegating women to the back of the bill is akin to sending them to the back of the bus. The Rosa Parks analogies are inevitable.”

Vox’s Matt Yglesias weighed in on the debate:

Many presidents oversaw mistreatment of American Indians, but Jackson’s policies in this regard were especially egregious. He was also a proponent of slavery, and his crank monetary policies — including an opposition to paper money — make him almost uniquely unsuited for a role on currency.

Hamilton had his flaws and the case for putting a woman on American currency is strong, but Jackson is far and away the best candidate for removal.


Why are pennies still in circulation?

See More:

More in Politics

The Logoff
Trump’s DOJ wants to undo January 6 convictionsTrump’s DOJ wants to undo January 6 convictions
The Logoff

How the Trump administration is still trying to rewrite January 6 history.

By Cameron Peters
Politics
Donald Trump messed with the wrong popeDonald Trump messed with the wrong pope
Politics

Trump fought with Pope Francis before. He’s finding Pope Leo XIV to be a tougher foil.

By Christian Paz
Podcasts
A cautionary tale about tax cutsA cautionary tale about tax cuts
Podcast
Podcasts

California cut property taxes in the 1970s. It didn’t go so well.

By Miles Bryan and Noel King
Podcasts
Obama’s top Iran negotiator on Trump’s screwupsObama’s top Iran negotiator on Trump’s screwups
Podcast
Podcasts

Wendy Sherman helped Obama reach a deal with Iran. Here’s what she thinks Trump is doing wrong.

By Kelli Wessinger and Noel King
Politics
The Supreme Court could legalize moonshine, and ruin everything elseThe Supreme Court could legalize moonshine, and ruin everything else
Politics

McNutt v. DOJ could allow the justices to seize tremendous power over the US economy.

By Ian Millhiser
The Logoff
The new Hormuz blockade, briefly explainedThe new Hormuz blockade, briefly explained
The Logoff

Trump tries Iran’s playbook.

By Cameron Peters