Reagan Memorials

In the last week, many Republicans and Reagan Democrats have been suggesting all types of memorials in his honor. Now, I for one, believe that Reagan should be honored with memorials and shrines. But I do not think that things should be taken to excess.

First, no discussion of monuments or renaming of buildings should take place for at least 2 years. You have to be dead for at least 10 years to get put on a stamp, so I think its only fair that you wait a few years before doing things. Granted, Reagan has been almost dead to the American public since 1994, but I don't believe that means we should accelerate things strictly because of this issue (or because the Republicans are in power at the moment).

Second, I've heard some absolutely crazy ideas regarding memorials. No one else should be carved into Mt. Rushmore. Its done and the last thing we want is to diminish the great men up there now by turning it into a political football. If Reagan goes up, then we'll have to put FDR and maybe Kennedy. Then things will just bounce back and forth in a really nutty fashion.

I've also heard about renaming the Pentagon, adding him to the $10 bill, splitting him with FDR on the face of the dime. Now, renaming the Pentagon is just stupid. People will still call it the Pentagon and Reagan already has National Airport named after him. You don't need to rename every building after someone, just as you don't need to sell the naming rights of every ballpark (but that's another rant).

Regarding the money, I think it would be actually be a great slight to Reagan if we put him on the $10 bill. If Adam Smith was the founder of Capitalism, then Alexander Hamilton is pretty much the high priest of it. To replace him with one of his loyal followers would do an injustice to the system that Reagan fought so hard to protect. If there is any bill that needs a new face, its the $50. What did Grant do that warranted his face being on money. I think he should be pulled and replaced with someone like John Adams, but again, that's a rant for another time.

Now, as far as the dime goes, I don't have as big of a problem with that. I think removing FDR completely would not be appropriate, but that having half of the newly minted dimes be with FDR and the other with Reagan wouldn't be too bad. I think most historians would probably argue that FDR and Reagan were the two most influential presidents in the 20th century, so tying them together isn't a bad idea. We've also been offering many variations with the currency in regards to the 50 state quarter program and the redesigned Lewis and Clark nickel, so varying the dime into two variations wouldn't be impractical.

But, we shall wait and see what happens. I think cooler heads will prevail once the funeral is over. Then we can start thinking about more practical ways of honoring Ronald Reagan.

*UPDATE* This opinion piece from USA Today is a good example of my position.