On May 22. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced that the $20 bill redesign set to replace President Andrew Jackson with Harriett Tubman would not be pursued during the Trump administration.
Harvard Business School historian Nancy Koehn joined Boston Public Radio on Thursday to discuss why the change, initiated by the Obama administration, was delayed.
Koehn described President Donald Trump’s affinity to Jackson, saying that she suspects this is part of the reason for the redesign stall.
“I think that Trump is trying to undo anything the Obama administration brushed a baton or wand over or took action on. There’s a piece of him that wants to make sure nothing from his predecessor survives. I think another piece is he’s a self-espoused hero, Jackson is his self-espoused hero, or he’s a fan or groupie. He visited Jackson’s home, he’s talked a lot about the Andrew Jackson portrait in the White House," Koehn said.
Koehn also talked about Rep. Ayanna Pressley questioning Mnuchin on not executing the redesign, as well as the action of stamping a portrait of Tubman on the $20 bill in protest.
Koehn is an historian at the Harvard Business School where she holds the James E. Robison chair of Business Administration. Her forthcoming book is "Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times."
