Who is top dog?

[kendo1]

I see that President Obama is visiting the UK to pay his respects to the Queen.

(okay, a bit tongue in cheek for the opening sentence)

But, of course this is the first time President Obama has met the Queen.

It should be noted that President Obama is the eleventh President that the Queen has met.

I decided to look back at these first meetings. So far I have found that nine Presidents have come to the UK for the first meeting. I'm not sure about the other two.

It seems to be the custom that the UK Prime Minister opens proceedings by being the first foreign statesman to visit the new President, and invites the President to visit the Queen.

So, who is the senior partner? (another tongue in cheek observation- but I think- a valid one)
Answers on a postcard...

 

[JagFarlane]

As a small note: Obama is in the UK for the G20 summit of world leaders, which is being held in London [amidst large gatherings of protestors according to CNN].

He is though, meeting with the Queen.

By all means, I would like to think [perhaps just wishful thinking] that we were on par. Though I would have figured the Prime Minister would be meeting with the President at the Inaugural Ball.

As for the Queen, I wouldn't be surprised to find that she doesn't do much travel due not only to security concerns, but more towards her advanced age. However, from everything I have seen of her I would think that there are many world leaders whom could take lessons from her.

 

[sr71plt]

Interesting observation, kendo. Having had a career where U.S. and UK efforts were being combined in actual operations, it always did seem that Americans were prepared to bend over backward for the Brits and defer to them on most issues (and the Brits took full advantage of this). Can't really thing of better folks to hook up with, though.

 

[Corylea]

The current monarch seems like a gracious lady, but in the past, there have been people who've sat on England's throne who everyone acknowledges to have been insane or abysmally stupid or both. The Queen is where she is through an accident of birth; the President is where he is because he's been elected to that office. While I acknowledge that the president before Obama did qualify as "insane or abysmally stupid or both," in general, I think that being elected to an office because of one's own qualities trumps being born into an office regardless of one's qualities.

 

[kendo1]

Back to history - and thanks for the comments.

Her life has coincided with 15 Presidents, as Queen 12. She never met Lyndon B Johnson.
She met Harry S Truman while she was still Princess Elizabeth.

Her father, King George VI, was the first UK monarch to visit the US. No UK monarch had set foot on US soil, not even in colonial times. Franklin D Roosevelt invited the King for a state visit to the US and consequently changed Anglo-US relations completely.

 

[kendo1]

The current monarch seems like a gracious lady, but in the past, there have been people who've sat on England's throne who everyone acknowledges to have been insane or abysmally stupid or both. The Queen is where she is through an accident of birth; the President is where he is because he's been elected to that office. While I acknowledge that the president before Obama did qualify as "insane or abysmally stupid or both," in general, I think that being elected to an office because of one's own qualities trumps being born into an office regardless of one's qualities.

Spoken like a true colonial.

I understand your point, but she does a good job. Would any normal person do her job for almost 60 years? If you realise that she does the same kind of thing that a President does- not exactly, but similar.

 

[Liar]

The current monarch seems like a gracious lady, but in the past, there have been people who've sat on England's throne who everyone acknowledges to have been insane or abysmally stupid or both. The Queen is where she is through an accident of birth; the President is where he is because he's been elected to that office. While I acknowledge that the president before Obama did qualify as "insane or abysmally stupid or both," in general, I think that being elected to an office because of one's own qualities trumps being born into an office regardless of one's qualities.

Only if you think that desiring said office and choosing to run for it is an indicator of good character.

Some would say it's an indicator of insanity.

 

[Corylea]

Would any normal person do her job for almost 60 years?

I think that this is a nearly unbearable burden, and one that shouldn't be placed on anyone, especially someone who didn't sign up for the job but just inherited it. Things may have been different a couple of hundred years ago, but in this age of jet planes and TV cameras, the monarch is expected to go everywhere and to respond to events instantly, without time for reflection. Eight years of that (the maximum amount of time that any single person can be president in the US) is already enough to try one's sanity; having to devote one's entire life to that seems like a very cruel punishment to me.

A lot of people say that they'd like to be wealthy and/or famous, whereas both of those things seem dreadful to me. Neither the wealthy nor the famous can have privacy without going to extreme efforts, and they can never be sure that their friends or spouses are with them for themselves, as opposed to for their wealth or fame. They can't bungle like ordinary humans without having their every action dissected and analyzed in the papers or on TV. Gah, horrible!

I may have to fly economy class when I go somewhere, rather than having my own private plane, but nobody much cares what I do, and anybody who takes the trouble to be my friend does so because they think I'm fun or interesting to know, not because they hope I can give them anything other than my attention and affection. And if I need for someone to bow to me, well, there are an awful lot of male submissives out there. I feel sorry for the Queen; I think she has the loneliest job in the world.

 

[kendo1]

Thanks, Corylea.

It does seem as if high office does affect the holders adversely- premature ageing.