The US dollar bears, for the first time in its history, two female signatures, including that of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the first woman in this function, who symbolically signed this first series of banknotes on Thursday in Fort Worth (Texas).
Alongside the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury, is that of the Treasurer of the United States, who has been, since September, the first woman of Native American origin in this position, Marilynn Malerba, also chief of the tribe Mohegan.
“This is the first time the signature of a female Secretary of the Treasury will appear on U.S. banknotes and the first time the signatures of two women will appear on our currency,” Janet Yellen said in a speech. at one of only two locations in the United States where greenbacks are printed, in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Today is not just about me or a new signature on our currency. This is about our collective work to create a stronger, more inclusive economy,” said Joe Biden’s Minister of Economy and Finance.
She pointed out that 62% of US Treasury Department staff today are female, with women in decision-making positions.
“This moment is historic,” commented Ms. Malerba.
These notes, of 1 and 5 dollars initially, will come into circulation at the beginning of next year.
“I have to admit: I spent a lot of time practicing signing,” joked Janet Yellen.
Indeed, she said, if “it is customary for secretaries to the Treasury to provide their signature to appear on the currency of our country, (…) the founding fathers did not take this into account. which seems to be a common attribute of Treasury secretaries: terrible handwriting”.
Barack Obama’s Treasury Secretary, between 2009 and 2013, Tim Geithner, thus “had to change his signature to make it readable”, explained Janet Yellen.
Ditto for his successor Jack Lew, who served in that role from 2013 to 2017, during the Democratic president’s second term: “When nominating Jack Lew for secretary, President Obama joked that he should try to make “at least one legible letter” in his signature”.
The only other greenback printing site is in the federal capital, Washington.