Caricature by DonkeyHotey via Flickr Creative Commons. This caricature of Ben Carson was adapted from a photo in the public domain available via Wikimedia. https://www.flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey/15788738528/
Last night’s CNN Republican presidential debate featured an admittedly light-hearted question: Which woman should be placed on the ten dollar bill? Ben Carson’s answer: his mother.
Carson often talks about his mother. She is a key figure in his life, and he spoke highly of her long before he became a political figure.
In 2005, Carson participated in NPR’s “This I Believe.” This was a remarkable series in which people wrote their personal credos. Carson spoke eloquently of his mother.
“The simplest way to say it is this: I believe in my mother,” Carson begins. He then tells not only of how his mother raised him but also of her faith while he was battling cancer.
“My story is really my mother’s story,” he concludes. “A woman with little formal education or worldly goods who used her position as a parent to change the lives of many people around the globe. There is no job more important than parenting. This I believe.”
Regardless of your politics, the essay is worth a few minutes of your time.
READ 5 faith facts about Ben Carson: retired neurosurgeon, Seventh-day Adventist
For what it’s worth, here are the answers of the other candidates.
Rand Paul: Susan B. Anthony
Mike Huckabee: His wife
Marco Rubio: Rosa Parks
Ted Cruz: Rosa Parks (albeit on the $20 bill, not the $10 bill)
Donald Trump: His daughter Ivanca or Rosa Parks
Jeb Bush: Margaret Thatcher
Scott Walker: Clara Barton
Carly Fiorina: Did not want to change the bill
John Kasich: Mother Theresa
Chris Christie: Abigail Adams
Yes, two candidates named women who aren’t U.S. citizens; one named no woman; and three (including Carson) named members of their family. None of them named the top four in a Marist poll: Eleanor Roosevelt, Harriet Tubman, Sacagawea, and Amelia Earhart. Susan B. Anthony was number five (tied with Earhart). Sandra Day O’Connor was sixth.
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