Who Is On Every U.S. Bill?
By CHANDLER STARK
History
WASHINGTON: $1
George Washington was instrumental in America winning the Revolutionary War. The first elected U.S. president, his face has been on the $1 bill since 1869.
The $1 bill is one of the least counterfeited notes. The Federal Reserve revised the bill in 1963, and it is the only bill prohibited by law from being redesigned.
JEFFERSON: $2
Known as the "Father of the Declaration of Independence," Thomas Jefferson is on the $2 bill. He became the third U.S. president in 1801 and won reelection in 1804.
$2 bills are regarded as evil or associated with nefarious deeds. The Department of the Treasury stopped printing them from 1966 to 1976, and now only prints them periodically.
LINCOLN: $5
Presiding over the country during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln saved the Union from complete collapse, and beginning in 1914 his image was used on the $5 bill.
The bill was revised in 1929, 1993, 2000, and 2008. The 1914-series $5 bill had Christopher Columbus and the Pilgrims on the back, but since 1929 the back has the Lincoln Memorial.
HAMILTON: $10
In 1929, the Treasury put Alexander Hamilton on the new $10 bill, where he has remained ever since. Hamilton is one of two non-presidents to be on an American bill.
Hamilton had a profound impact on the founding of America. He was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, a Founding Father, a Federalist, and the first secretary of the U.S. Treasury.
JACKSON: $20
In 1929, the Treasury put Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, where he still is today. However, his image on the bill has been controversial due to his racist policies.
The face of the $20 bill will change in 2030 due to Treasury secretary Jacob J. Lew who decided to replace him with abolitionist and civil rights figure Harriet Tubman.