Posted by Jake MacAulay

Our nation’s first president, George Washington, under the newly formed Constitution in 1789, found himself in an uncomfortable position.  As the nation’s first Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief he knew the delicate ground between strength and tyranny. Fearing any comparison to the monarchal government from which America had just been liberated, Washington took care to avoid any physical or symbolic references to European monarchs.  When the Senate proposed that he be called by the official title “His Highness the President of the United States of America and the Protector of Their Liberties,” an abashed Washington opted for the more modest address of “Mr. President.”

How far we have come in America.  Since Washington’s modesty there has been no implication that the president of these United States has ever been handed the unilateral authority of kings, monarchs, or dictators.