Notice the irony at the end of the following piece:

It's too soon to tell whether Reagan fits the bill
By JONATHAN TURLEY
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...utlook/2625617


UNTIL last week, the status of Alexander Hamilton appeared not only secure
but on the ascent as one of the central figures of the American Revolution.
However, on the very eve of the 200th anniversary of his death, Hamilton is
now facing the equivalent of decanonization - a congressional act to remove
him from the face of the $10 bill and replace his image with that of Ronald
Reagan. In fact, as Republicans vie to satisfy what is becoming a cult-like
obsession with Reagan memorials, Franklin Delano Roosevelt may be replaced
by Reagan on the dime. The urgent move among Republicans in Congress to
replace Hamilton and Roosevelt may involve some genuine respect, but it
certainly also reflects some opportunism by disciples eager to strike while
Reagan critics are forced to observe a respectful
silence.

If the decanonization of Hamilton and Roosevelt is premature, so is the
canonization of Reagan only days after his death. What is lacking is the
objectivity needed to weigh the relative contributions of leaders such as
Hamilton, Roosevelt and Reagan.

For six centuries, the Vatican employed a priest called the devil's advocate
to challenge any sainthood candidate, arguing his or her flaws and failings
to test the claim of saintliness. In Reagan's case, few in Congress are
eager to question the relative credentials of an American icon in the
aftermath of his death.

At one time, Reagan supporters were content with their stated desire to have
their man on the dime rather than Roosevelt, credited with such small feats
as saving the nation from the Great Depression and the world from fascism.
Roosevelt is long dead, however, and what has he done for us lately?

Hamilton appears doomed by two factors: the declining value of the dime and
the fact that he graces one of the most used bills - making his
decanonization far more attractive for Reagan supporters. Finally, Hamilton
lacks any lobby or constituency beyond a few endomorphic academic geeks.

Reagan, by contrast, has an actual committee - the Ronald Reagan Legacy
Project - which spends all its time trying to get things named after Reagan.

In Washington, it seems, one may soon be able to move from Reagan memorial
to Reagan memorial without touching non-Reagified ground. There is a move to
give Reagan a memorial on the Mall, like Abraham Lincoln. Congress built a
$338 million, 3.1 million-square-foot government complex for Reagan. Then
someone noticed that the capital's airport was named after some president
named George Washington, so it was promptly renamed after Reagan. There is a
mountain in New Hampshire named after Reagan, as well as an aircraft carrier
in the Pacific and thousands of other "legacy" memorials. Congress members
are also pushing to squeeze Reagan onto Mount Rushmore.

At the least, Congress could give us the choice of which prior leader to
discard in favor of Reagan. There are far better candidates for
decanonization. There is William McKinley on the $500 bill and Grover
Cleveland on the $1,000 bill. Former secretary of the Treasury and Supreme
Court Justice Salmon Chase was given the $10,000; he - not such greats as
Chief Justice John Marshall or justices Louis Brandeis or Oliver Wendell
Holmes - is the only jurist on a bill.

Better yet, we could remove Andrew Jackson from the $20 bill. Jackson is
hardly a figure worthy of such an honor. Whereas some of the others did
little good, Jackson did much harm. After the Battle of New Orleans, Jackson
exercised dictatorial powers and engaged in outrageous attacks on his
critics. He later defied the Supreme Court and, in open violation of the
Constitution, ordered the eviction of the Cherokees from their land - an act
that led to the infamous "Trail of Tears" and probably would be defined
today as a crime against humanity.

The effort to replace Hamilton and Roosevelt proves the need to have a
moratorium on any government memorial to a president for 25 years after his
death. There is already such a moratorium for Mall memorials, which some
members are seeking to override. It was a law signed in 1986 - by Ronald
Reagan.

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Turley is a law professor at George Washington University and is writing a
book on Alexander Hamilton.