Move Over, Andrew Jackson!

America is the greatest force of capitalism in the world. Our money is our national identity, and the most visible venue we have for commemorating our heroes. Every day, millions get a glimpse of Washington, Jackson, and—if they're lucky—Franklin. That's why Barbara Ortiz Howard, the owner of an exterior restoration company, and Susan Ades Stone, a journalist, are taking a stand. They say it's time for a woman to appear, regularly, in our billfolds. The U.S. dollar is an international currency. People around the world interact with it every day. "We need to show them we have a commitment to women," Ades Stone says. Ortiz Howard and Ades Stone, respectively, are the founder and executive director of Women on $20s, a national campaign seeking to nominate a woman to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 note.
The pair drafted an initial list of 100 women, and with the help of volunteers and historians, selected 15 women as finalists in a national contest to adorn the $20 bill. Around 188,000 people have voted on their website so far. After an initial primary round, three candidates, plus Wilma Mankiller, will be up for a final vote sometime in the next few weeks. (Facing some criticism, they decided that the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation should automatically advance to the final.) The vote is just an online poll. But Ortiz Howard and Ades Stone intend to present the results to the White House. President Obama said last summer he thought putting more women on currency was "a pretty good idea." Candidates include Alice Paul (the suffragist leader), Shirley Chisholm (the first African-American woman elected to Congress), Sojourner Truth (the abolition activist), Margaret Sanger (the founder of Planned Parenthood), and Rosa Parks (needs no introduction). So what do you think, is it time for a woman on our money? And who would you put on the $20.00 bill?