FedSmith.com Users Overwhelmingly Disagree with $20 Bill Redesign

We asked our users in a recent survey if they agreed with the Treasury Department’s decision to redesign the $20 and $5 bills to feature new historical figures. Here is what you told us.

We asked our users in a recent survey if they agreed with the Treasury Department’s decision to change the $20 bill by replacing the picture of Andrew Jackson with that of Harriet Tubman. The response was clear: you said you do not agree with the change.

Out of the almost 2,500 responses we received, 74% said they did not agree with the decision to change the $20 bill while only 26% said they supported the change.

Of the respondents who did agree with the decision to change the $20 bill, almost 93% said that Harriet Tubman was the right choice. However, another 6% said that it should have been somebody else. Popular choices for whom respondents thought it should have been included:

  • Martin Luther King
  • Barack Obama
  • Eleanor Roosevelt
  • Ronald Reagan
  • John F. Kennedy

Respondents also disagreed just as much with the decision to change the back of the $5 bill to feature Martin Luther King, Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson; 71% said it should not be changed.

We also asked you if you thought the $10 bill should be redesigned since this was also discussed by the Treasury Department. The responses were even more overwhelming to this question: 88% of respondents said they did not want to see the $10 bill changed.

Of the few who did wish to see it changed to replace Alexander Hamilton’s photo with that of somebody else, popular choices for his replacement were:

  • Ronald Reagan
  • John F. Kennedy
  • Martin Luther King
  • Frederick Douglas
  • Barack Obama
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  • Rosa Parks
  • Susan B. Anthony
  • Malcolm X
  • Eleanor Roosevelt
  • A native American

Very few respondents as a percentage of all respondents said that they wanted to see other bills redesigned by the Treasury Department. 16% said they would like to see other bills redesigned. Those broke down as follows:

  • $1 bill: 36%
  • $2 bill: 40%
  • $50 bill: 40%
  • $100 bill: 42%

Many of the suggested names this subset of respondents said they would like to see on other bills were the same as ones already mentioned above, although there were a few other suggestions. Some of the more frequently mentioned names included:

  • Ronald Reagan
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  • Malcolm X
  • Barack Obama
  • A native American
  • John F. Kennedy
  • Martin Luther King
  • Donald Trump
  • Eleanor Roosevelt
  • Bill Clinton
  • Teddy Roosevelt

Our thanks to those of you who took the time to share your feedback in this survey. Feel free to continue to share your ideas in the comments below.

About the Author

Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.