The Oklahoman: Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford wants Andrew Jackson off $20 bill

The Oklahoman - Chris Casteel

Rep. Tom Cole's grandmother loathed former President Andrew Jackson so much that she wouldn't even carry a $20 bill.

A Chickasaw like his grandmother, Cole said he also has "a very prejudiced view" of the man who served from 1829 to 1837.

In that time, Jackson ordered the removal of the Chickasaws and other Indian tribes from their longtime homes in southern U.S. states to Indian territory, what would later become Oklahoma. The forced relocation led to thousands of deaths along what came to be called the Trail of Tears.

Oklahoma historian Arrell Morgan Gibson wrote, "Jackson's wholesale removal plan was adopted in 1830.

"So obsessed was the president with driving the Indian tribes to the far frontiers of the United States that he gave his personal attention to the matter."

Earlier this month, freshman Sen. James Lankford introduced legislation to replace Jackson on the $20 bill because of Indian removal.

“If we're going to replace anyone on a bill, Andrew Jackson should be first in line,” Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, said in an interview last week.

The U.S. Treasury Department already has decided to replace Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first Treasury secretary, on the $10 bill with a woman; the choice is expected to be announced some time this year.

Lankford's resolution would also require that a woman be chosen to replace Jackson.

It says “forced removal by Andrew Jackson of American Indians and the subsequent inhumane settlement of Indian lands represent a major blight on the proud history of the United States.”

And “beginning prior to the founding of the United States and continuing through the present day, the women of the United States, including American Indian women, have worked without due recognition and should be provided the necessary respect and gratitude by all people of the United States for innumerable contributions to the culture, families, economy, innovation, military and way of life of the United States.”

Why is Jackson on the bill?

Jackson, the seventh U.S. president, was chosen for the $20 bill in 1928, though it's not clear why.

“A committee appointed to study such matters made those choices,” according to the Treasury Department. “Unfortunately, however, our records do not suggest why certain presidents and statesmen were chosen for specific denominations.”

Though Lankford's cause has a lot of support from outside groups, Jackson does have his defenders.

David Greenberg, a professor at Rutgers, wrote in Politico last year that Jackson's record on Indian removal was “bad,” but that critics tend to omit his signal virtues — “most importantly his role in promoting a radically more egalitarian political culture than the United States had previously enjoyed.”

"Egalitarian" might not be a word Indians would use to describe Jackson's policies.

Cole, R-Moore, called Indian removal “ethnic cleansing” of the southeastern United States.

Indian Affairs

“From my research, there have been 14 tribal members in the history of the United States that have been members of the House,” Cole said last week. “Eight are from Oklahoma.”

Cole and Lankford said most of their colleagues in Congress know little about Indian removal under Jackson, mostly because there is no connection to it in their own states.

Lankford grew up in Texas and went to college there; he said he learned about it in his college history courses.

Lankford was assigned to the Indian Affairs Committee last year and has been trying to educate himself and his staff on issues important to Indian Country. He recently met with Cherokee Nation Chief Bill John Baker; according to both, the $20 bill legislation wasn't a big part of the conversation.

Baker, whose tribe was among those forcibly removed to Indian Territory, said, “I commend Senator Lankford for taking an active and thoughtful approach to his role on the Senate Indian Affairs committee. We met recently and discussed many issues related to the strength and vitality of the Cherokee Nation and Indian Country as a whole.

“It's assuring to see him take meaningful positions on issues important to many tribes and tribal citizens.”

Cole, who has several relatives prominent in Chickasaw history, said he would be interested in the debate about removing Jackson from the $20 bill.

“If we're going to do it, we shouldn't do it just for reasons of political correctness,'' he said.

Rather, he said, it should be to honor someone whose contributions advanced America.

Online: The Oklahoman