Whose picture is on the U.S. $5,000 bill?

James Madison, the fourth President of the United States, is pictured on the final series of the $5,000 bill printed in 1918. The back of the bill showed George Washington resigning his commission as general of the Continental Army.

The $5,000 bill was initially issued to finance the Revolutionary War and was only officially printed by the government when the Civil War began. Prior to 1861, banks printed the paper money. On February 25, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the National Banking Act (originally known as the National Currency Act), which for the first time in American history established the federal dollar as the sole currency of the United States. Congress ordered their printing.

President Richard Nixon ordered that the bills be recalled in 1969 due to fear of criminals using them for money-laundering activities.

Finding a $5,000 bill today takes pluck, luck and significantly more than $5,000. Fewer than 400 of these notes are believed to exist.

Madison, who is nicknamed the "Father of the Constitution", was in office during the War of 1812 when the British burned many of the federal buildings in Washington D.C. including the White House.