# Has anybody ever been head of state/government of two different countries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 7, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144 "2007-05-07T19:46:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/21 "2007-05-08T02:29:47Z")
Idi Amin; dictator of Uganda and King of Scotland. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/22 "2007-05-08T02:54:07Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] Norton I served simultaneously as Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. [/QUOTE] And his [widow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Sarria) has since ascended the thrones. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/23 "2007-05-08T03:00:20Z")
[QUOTE=SCSimmons] One that pops to mind is King James VI of Scotland, who became King James I of England after Queen Elizabeth I passed away, and thus King James I of the United Kingdom … [/QUOTE] This is an exceptionally snitty nitpick, but one that really should be made in the interests of accuracy: James Stuart was never James I of the “United Kingdom,” except in describing their hereditary monarchy retroactively. The “United” there refers to the union of the crowns of Great Britain and of Ireland, formerly a legally separate nation whose government was basically imposed from London. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was only around from 1800 to 1922, following which, with Irish Home Rule and the independent Republic of Ireland save for six Ulster counties, it became “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and **Northern** Ireland,” the name it’s held since. What James was, was James VI of Scots and James I of England. What he often called himself was James, D.G. Britanniae Magnae Rex – i.e. “King of Great Britain,” meaning that he was the sole king over that **island**. It didn’t become a unified country until 104 years later, under his great-granddaughter Anne in 1707. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/24 "2007-05-08T05:16:39Z")
Okay, [post=8338072]this[/post] is what I was talking about. (See the thread linked to in this post.) ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/25 "2007-05-08T09:54:58Z")
The other, less obvious example of a king of Poland who ruled elsewhere would be Stanisław I Leszczyński, who, after his second abdication, became duke of Lorraine. And that was possible only because the existing duke, François-Etienne I, agreed to swap Lorraine for succession to the grand duchy of Tuscany, thus becoming another example for the OP. (Whether the fact that, as the husband of Maria Theresa and as Franz I Stephan, he went on to become the co-regent of the Habsburg hereditary lands and Holy Roman Emperor also qualifies is, I suppose, more debatable.) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/26 "2007-05-08T12:27:48Z")
[QUOTE=SCSimmons] Sorry! You’d have looked more original if I’d gone with my actual first thought, Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, but I couldn’t get my thoughts straight on all of the kingdoms & titles he held … [/QUOTE] I don’t have _all_ of them, since he had a pile of titles taller than me, but just in Spain he was Carlos I de Castilla, Carlos I de Aragón-Dos Sicilias and Carlos IV de Navarra. He inherited the first from his mother Juana I, the other two from his maternal grandfather Fernando I; his claim to the Empire came from his father. His son Felipe II had even more titles, adding Portugal by marriage. Unlike the other three kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula, that one got re-separated pretty fast. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/27 "2007-05-08T13:16:12Z")
The only modern example I know of is Simeon II, who was the tsar of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1943 until 1946 when the monarchy was abolished. The state was succeeded by the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, in which Simeon had no role. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, Bulgaria became the Republic of Bulgaria, and Simeon was elected prime minister in 2001. This marks the only time a deposed monarch has become head of government through democratic elections. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/28 "2007-05-08T16:10:28Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] And his [widow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Sarria) has since ascended the thrones. [/QUOTE] I did not know that. God save the Queen! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/29 "2007-05-08T20:56:31Z")
[QUOTE=psychonaut] The only modern example I know of is Simeon II, who was the tsar of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1943 until 1946 when the monarchy was abolished. The state was succeeded by the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, in which Simeon had no role. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, Bulgaria became the Republic of Bulgaria, and Simeon was elected prime minister in 2001. This marks the only time a deposed monarch has become head of government through democratic elections. [/QUOTE] How about Cambodia – before Pol Pot, Lon Nol, and other odd names, Norodom Sihanouk was at various times Prince Regent, King, Prime Minister, and President. I’m not sure of the fairness of any elections, nor of the intricate constitutional history that led to this, but I do recall him being four different kinds of head of state/government over his career. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/30 "2007-05-08T21:23:34Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] The “United” there refers to the union of the crowns of Great Britain and of Ireland, formerly a legally separate nation whose government was basically imposed from London. [/QUOTE] No, it refers to the union of England and Scotland. The [Treaty of Union](http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html) of 1706 uses the phrases United Kingdom and United Kingdom of Great Britain many times; all the union with Ireland did was make GB into GB&I. Any monarch from Anne forward is properly styled “of the UK”–but not of course James I, who reigned long before the Union. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/31 "2007-05-08T22:11:10Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] No, it refers to the union of England and Scotland. The [Treaty of Union](http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html) of 1706 uses the phrases United Kingdom and United Kingdom of Great Britain many times; all the union with Ireland did was make GB into GB&I. Any monarch from Anne forward is properly styled “of the UK”–but not of course James I, who reigned long before the Union. [/QUOTE] Fair enough, given that it’s a nitpick of my nitpick. But I’ll note that in lists of laws, titles of nobility, etc., the nation that existed between 1707 and 1800 is (apparently always) shorthanded as “Great Britain” or “GB,” and the one that succeeded it with the incorporation of Ireland in 1800 is (likewise apparently always) shorthanded as “the United Kingdom” or “UK.” ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/32 "2007-05-09T10:01:05Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] No, it refers to the union of England and Scotland. The [Treaty of Union](http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html) of 1706 uses the phrases United Kingdom and United Kingdom of Great Britain many times; all the union with Ireland did was make GB into GB&I. Any monarch from Anne forward is properly styled “of the UK”–but not of course James I, who reigned long before the Union. [/QUOTE] No, no, no. (I’ve done this several times before, but here we go again anyway.) There is a big difference between ‘the United Kingdom of Great Britain’ and ‘the united kingdom of Great Britain’. Just because the texts of the 1706 Treaty and both the 1707 Acts used the phrase with initial capital letters does not mean that this is how it was meant to be read. After all, in common with most official documents of that period, those texts used initial capital letters for most nouns and adjectives. Simply citing that phrase in isolation therefore proves nothing. Only by considering other evidence can the reading that was intended be established. Fortunately, those documents themselves clarify the point. Consider Article 1. > [@](#): > > _I. That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN…_ It even puts the phrase entirely in capital letters just to make sure that the form of the name is unambiguous. Plenty of other evidence can be cited to show that this was how contemporaries understood these documents. As it happens, the royal style is the most clear-cut example. Every British monarch between 1707 and 1801 was formally, properly and routinely styled ‘King/Queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland’. For that reason, historians actually do describe them as being ‘of Great Britain’, which is also the name they use for the country over which those rulers ruled. Anything else would be blatantly anachronistic. True, that ‘the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland’ was adopted as the new name after 1801 was clearly influenced by the wording of the 1706-7 documents. But the fact that the 1800 Acts were so obviously modelled on those earlier documents only underlines the crucial difference. Consider the 1800 Article 1. > [@](#): > > _That it be the first Article of the Union of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, that the said Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland shall, upon the 1st day of January which shall be in the year of our Lord 1801, and for ever after, be united into one Kingdom, by the name of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland…_ > > [http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/peel/ireland/1801act.htm](http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/peel/ireland/1801act.htm) The parliamentary draftsmen knew precisely what they were doing and what that was was changing the country’s name. Needless to say, it was only at that point that the royal style was changed to ‘of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland’. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/33 "2007-05-09T17:15:05Z")
A nitpick: Elizabeth II isn’t “Queen of the Commonwealth,” she’s the “Head of the Commonwealth.” Some of the Commonwealth nations are republics, and others have their own monarchs: [Head of the Commonwealth - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_of_the_Commonwealth) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/34 "2007-05-12T15:41:16Z")
Mr. Speaker, a follow-up question for **APB** - how come Her Majesty’s own [web-site](http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page5.asp) refers to the monarchs in this wise: > [@](#): > > Kings and Queens of England (to 1603) > > Kings and Queens of Scotland (to 1603) > > Kings and Queens of the **United Kingdom** (from 1603) I’m not disagreeing with your analysis, but I’m wondering why HM & Co are using this terminology? is it common in the UK government? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/35 "2007-05-12T17:47:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, he wasn’t quite the ruler of two countries, but Sam Houston was head of the independent country of Texas, and also served as governor of Tenessee, and later as governor of Texas. He was also a congressman. Sanford Dole followed a similar path. He was President of the Republic of Hawaii and was then appointed Governor after Hawaii was annexed by the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/36 "2007-05-13T00:15:03Z")
[QUOTE=severus] I think so too, but it’s disputed. There was a debate about this between **Northern Piper** and another poster at some point; I’ll try to find it if I can. [/QUOTE] Huh. People actually (a) read my posts, and (b) remember them. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/37 "2007-05-13T00:23:34Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] A nitpick: Elizabeth II isn’t “Queen of the Commonwealth,” she’s the “Head of the Commonwealth.” Some of the Commonwealth nations are republics, and others have their own monarchs: [Head of the Commonwealth - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_of_the_Commonwealth) [/QUOTE] Very true. Her Maj could just as easily be head of NATO, ASEAN, or The Under 13s Soccer Club. She is Queen of Australia and Queen of Canada, and these are separate crowns entirely to the British one. It is theoretically possible that the UK could become a republic and sack the Royals, yet QEII could remain as head of state and monarch of those other countries that chose to keep the old girl. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/38 "2007-05-13T21:27:09Z")
> [@](#): > > by **CalMeacham** > . . . . the Hapsburg Maximilian was, at different times: . . . . . . . > > His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Maximilian of Austria, Prince of Hungary and Bohemia (6 July 1832 – 10 April 1864) > His Imperial Majesty Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico (10 April 1864 – 19 July 1867) > > He was also regent in Vienna and a Viceroy. I don’t believe that this qualifies. The actual head of state in Austria-Hungary was the “Hereditary Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King of Hungary” (also, by the way, King of Bohemia, among many other titles). “Archduke”, in this context, merely means “a child of the Emperor”, and “Prince” merely means “a child of the King”. A viceroy is always subordinate to a monarch. I don’t know what “regent” means in this context, but it usually means someone acting on the behalf of the actual monarch, not an actual monarch in his own right. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/39 "2007-05-14T01:32:45Z")
Do conquests count as “mergers”? What about Canute? ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144/40 "2007-05-14T02:10:11Z")
[QUOTE=Schnitte] I don’t mean individuals who, by virtue of an office, function as heads of state or government in two countries, such as the British monarch holding the crowns of many Commonwealth realms, or the French president being one of the princes of Andorra. I’m not referring to constellations of mergers (two states merge, and the head of state of one country becomes head of the newly formed country afterwards) or dissolutions (a state breaks up, and the former head of the old state becomes head of one of the two successors), either. What I mean is: Has any individual ever ruled or governed two distinct nations, simultaneosly or successively, by fulfilling the constitutional requirements for being vested with this office, independet of each other? [/QUOTE] While you did say Countries , I wonder if Kurt Waldheim would fit the bill. Originally SecGen of the UN , and then President of Austria. Declan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-been-head-of-state-government-of-two-different-countries/403144.md?page=3)