Benjamin Franklin

The three famous politicians and their ‘tattoos’ referred to here are George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Alexander Hamilton.  Each man appears on the U.S. currency bills $1, $5, and $10 respectively. 

On the reverse of the Washington $1 bill is a pyramid with the Eye of Providence peering at the viewer.  Above the eye reads, in Latin,  ‘Annuit Cœptis.’  Place the word ‘Annuit’ above the symbols found in part one of the clue, then transfer those letters to their corresponding place in the letter grid.

Some quick research will show that the First Bank of the United States was run by Alexander Hamilton (as our first Secretary of the Treasury), and was established in Philadelphia. (informal name – Philly.)  The hint points out that on the reverse of the Lincoln $5 bill the engravers have carefully inscribed the state names as they appear on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.  Looking closely will show that Pennsylvania is the state engraved below Arkansas, and is of course the state in which Philadelphia is located.

For part two, assign a numerical value to each of the letters in ‘Philly’ – 1 to 5 based on it’s relationship to its fellows, and discard the duplicates.  So, H=1, I=2, L=3, P=4, and Y=5.

Next, reorder the columns of the letter grid to match the word ‘Philly’ (or ‘Phily’, since the duplicate has been discarded.)  The columns should be ordered 4, 1, 2, 3, 5.

The revealed quotation reads:  “Two men may keep a secret if one of them is dead.”

This remark (or one very much like it) was made by the man on the $100 bill - founding father Benjamin Franklin.