A President's Title

Around President’s Day this year I read an article by Jill Lepore mentioning a discussion of how to address George Washington as the leader of a new country. “Adams had wanted to call him His Most Benign Highness, and Washington was fond of His High Mightiness.” Made me laugh but then I got interested in the titles of other founding national leaders.

The Mongolian Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in the 13th century. His picture looks mild-mannered but he was a fierce warrior who consolidated many tribes and eventually built the largest continguous empire in history: 9 million square miles stretching from the Yellow Sea to the Black Sea.

More familiar are Kings - like King John in my debut novel, Behold the Bird in Flight. He ruled by divine right, which put him in conflict with the Pope as each asserted a God-given power to appoint bishops. (Handy to have your own man in an important office.) John backed down, but that struggle continued until Henry VIII put an end to it by breaking with Rome.

Eastern titles are intriguing. In the 16th century we got a Sultan - Suleiman the Magnificent in the Ottoman Empire (portrait by Titan), and a Maharajah, Akbar the Great whose administration won the trust of Non-Muslim citizens, especially the Hindus. No crowns, but hats!

Today we have a Grand Ayatollah (Iran), some Emirs (Kuwait, Quatar, and United Arab Emirates), a Grand Duke (Luxembourg), an Emperor (Japan), and many kings.

To his credit, Washington chose Mr. President, a title which has served a panoply of great men well. Below, presidents I admire for courage, policies, or saving the country despite personal failings . Who would you add or remove?

Clockwise from top: Jimmy Carter, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, FDR, Lincoln, LBJ.

Thanks for reading.