# Have any U.S. citizens been the (legitimate) head of state of another country? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400 "2009-01-08T17:45:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/21 "2009-01-09T21:13:48Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > …Incidentally, the head of state of Canada (also of Australia, New Zealand, Barbados, and doubtless other places too) is not a Canadian citizen (nor Aussie, NZ, Bajan)… Is she even a British citizen or in a category all by herself (being the sovereign and all)? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/22 "2009-01-09T21:18:44Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I do know that Vaira Freiberga, the former president of Latvia, was forced (by Latvia) to renounce her Canadian citizenship before becoming the president. And her motorcade cut me off one day on the way to work, too. I wonder how connected that is. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/23 "2009-01-09T22:18:24Z")
Since the OP indicates that Sam Houston would be a good response, the following should qualify. Remember that the Declaration of Independence declared that the 13 former British colonies were henceforward “free and independent states.” While Americans and presumably most others in A.D. 2009 hear that as meaning “component unit of the country named The United States of America,” that is in fact anachronistic – the term meant “state” in the sense that Denmark, Portugal, and Sweden were independent states. This held true from July 2, 1776, when the Declaration was enacted until at least March 1, 1781, when the Articles of Confderation were ratified by the final state and went into effect, and arguably until June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire’s ratification completed the self-imposed effectuation requirements of the Constitution, or March 4, 1789, when it went into effect. Hence the following people were, as Governors (or other titles) Heads of State of present U.S. States as independent states, who later became U.S. citizens. Note that Texas (for 15 years), California (for 15 days), and Hawaii (for 88 years) were independent nations before joining the Union, and Vermont was an independent Republic prior to being the first state admitted to the new Union (as opposed to the original 13 who formed it). Meshech Weare, New Hampshire John Langdon, New Hampshire\* John Sullivan, New Hampshire\* John Hancock, Massachusetts Thomas Cushing, Massachusetts\*\* John Bowdoin, Massachusetts\* Thomas Chittenden, Vermont Moses Reardon, Vermont Nicholas Cooke, Rhode Island William Greene, Rhode Island John Collins, Rhode Island\* Jonathan Turnbull, Connecticut Matthew Griswold, Connecticut\* Samuel Huntington, Connecticut\* George Clinton, New York William Livingston, New Jersey Thomas Wharton, Pennsylvania[sup]P[/sup] George Bryan, Pennsylvania[sup]AP[/sup] Joseph Reed, Pennsylvania[sup]P[/sup] William Moore, Pennsylvania[sup]P\*[/sup] John Dickinson, Pennsylvania[sup]P\*[/sup], and Delaware\* Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania[sup]P\*[/sup] Thomas Mifflin, Pennsylvania[sup]P\*[/sup] John McKinly, Delaware Thomas McKean, Delaware George Read, Delaware Caesar Rodney, Delaware John Cook, Delaware\* Nicholas VanDyke, Delaware\* Thomas Collins, Delaware\* Thomas Johnon, Maryland Thomas Sim Lee, Maryland William Paca, Maryland\* William Smallwood, Maryland\* John Eager Howard, Maryland\* Patrick Henry, Virginia Thomas Jefferson, Virginia^ William Fleming, Virginia\*\* Thomas Nelson, Jr., Virginia David Jameson, Virginia\*\* Benjamin Harrison V, Virginia\* Edmund Randolph, Virginia\* Beverley Randolph, Virginia\* Cornelius Harnett, North Carolina[sup]P[/sup] Samuel Ashe, North Carolina[sup]P[/sup] Willie Jones, North Carolina[sup]P[/sup] Richard Caswell, North Carolina Abner Nash, North Carolina Thomas Burke, North Carolina\* Alexander Martin, North Carolina\* Samuel Johnston, North Carolina\* John Rutledge, South Carolina[sup]P[/sup] Rawlins Lowndes, South Carolina[sup]P[/sup] John Matthews, South Carolina\* Benjamin Guerard, South Carolina\* William Moultrie, South Carolina\* Thomas Pinckney, South Carolina\* Charles Pinckney, South Carolina\* Archibald Bulloch, Georgia Button Gwinnett, Georgia John A. Treutlen, Georgia John Houstoun, Georgia William Glascock, Georgia Seth John Cuthbert, Georgia John Wereat, Georgia George Walton, Georgia Richard Howly, Georgia Humphrey Wells, Georgia Stephen Heard, Georgia Myrick Davies, Georgia Nathan Brownson, Georgia\* John Martin, Georgia\* Lyman Hall, Georgia\* Samuel Elbert, Georgia\* Edward Telfair, Georgia\* George Matthews, Georgia\* George Handley, Georgia\* George Walton, Georgia\* David G. Burnet, Texas[sup]IP[/sup] Sam Houston, Texas[sup]P[/sup] Mirabeau B. Lamar, Texas[sup]P[/sup] Anson Jones, Texas[sup]P[/sup] William B. Ide, California[sup]P[/sup] Liliuokalani, Hawaii[sup]Q[/sup] Sanford Dole, Hawaii[sup]P[/sup] Notes: - Governor under the Articles of Confedertion \*\* Acting Governor [sup]P[/sup] President [sup]P\*[/sup] President under the Articles of Confederation [sup]AP[/sup] Acting President [sup]IP[/sup] Interim President [sup]Q[/sup] Queen Regnant ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/24 "2009-01-09T22:25:41Z")
Not officially, as it violates the DR constitution, but it is fairly likely that both the current president of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández, and his predecessor Hipólito Mejía hold US citizenship. Fernandez spent much of his childhood and youth in NYC and speaks good English, and Mejía let it slip during an interview that he had “US citizenship” which was hastily denied by his aides, who insisted he had made a mistake. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/25 "2009-01-09T22:32:45Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Is she even a British citizen or in a category all by herself (being the sovereign and all)? HM the Queen is not a citizen of the United Kingdom. She was a citizen before becoming the queen in 1952, and if she abdicated she would become a citizen again. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/26 "2009-01-09T22:35:47Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > HM the Queen is not a citizen of the United Kingdom. She was a citizen before becoming the queen in 1952, and if she abdicated she would become a citizen again. So if she’s not a citizen of the UK, then she’s also not a citizen of Canada and the other Commonwealth Realms in the same way, right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/27 "2009-01-10T03:51:04Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > astorian writes: > > \> Ireland’s former President/Prime Minister Eamon Da Valera, was born in New > \> York City to a Spanish father and an Irish mother. > > For what it’s worth, recent research indicates that Juan de Valera, Eamon’s supposed father, didn’t exist: > > [Éamon de Valera - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89amon_de_Valera) > > [Catherine Coll - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Coll) > > It’s more likely that his mother became pregnant outside of marriage and made up a marriage to a non-existent person. There’s no proof in any records that Juan de Valera existed. Eamon was sent back to Ireland and was raised by relatives there. He never lived with his mother after that point. She married another man and had two children. She spent most of the rest of her life in Rochester, New York. I’ve heard such rumors, and it’s entirely possible, even likely, that they’re true. Still, “Da Valero” is an odd, interesting name for an unmarried mother to make up. In any case, Ireland’s most important elected leader was born in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/28 "2009-01-10T06:34:44Z")
Would Paul Bremer count? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/29 "2009-01-10T07:00:56Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > So if she’s not a citizen of the UK, then she’s also not a citizen of Canada and the other Commonwealth Realms in the same way, right? 🙂 Correct. I’m not even sure if Her Majesty has a passport, to be honest. I’m pretty sure when you get to that level one can land one’s Royal Jet at pretty much airport in any civilised country on the planet and not have to contend with immigration formalities (assuming your arrival is expected, of course). AIUI all the other members of the Royal Family require passports, but not the Reigning Sovereign. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/30 "2009-01-10T07:22:30Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I’m not even sure if Her Majesty has a passport, to be honest. Well, for one thing, don’t British passports still say “in the name of her Majesty the Queen, please let this person pass freely”? So, presumably if the Queen needed a passport someplace, she could just write one up herself on a bar napkin or something: “Hello, I am the Queen. Please let me in. Thanks ever so much. [signed]Elizabeth II, By the Grace of God, etc., etc.” ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/31 "2009-01-10T11:09:36Z")
Heads of the native American Indian nations ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/32 "2009-01-10T11:46:46Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Well, for one thing, don’t British passports still say “in the name of her Majesty the Queen, please let this person pass freely”? So, presumably if the Queen needed a passport someplace, she could just write one up herself on a bar napkin or something: “Hello, I am the Queen. Please let me in. Thanks ever so much. [signed]Elizabeth II, By the Grace of God, etc., etc.” Australian, NZ, and Canadian passports say the same thing. There’s a very subtle undertone of “… and if you don’t, we’re going to send a Dreadnaught to shell your [del]Tribal Village[/del] Capital City. Don’t think we won’t. Signed Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, etc.” about the whole thing, too. The Reigning Sovereign doesn’t have a passport, but interestingly enough, she doesn’t have a Driver’s Licence either- even though Her Majesty can legally drive (she learnt during WWII). Since Passports, Driver’s Licences, and that sort of thing are generally issued In The Name Of Her (His) Majesty The Queen (King), it’s a bit daft- even for the Poms ;)- to have the Reigning Sovereign needing to carry a passport or driver’s licence on them. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but we require _two_ forms of photographic identification to process your Visa Card application, and I’m afraid a postage stamp and a £10 note don’t qualify…” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/33 "2009-01-10T14:30:29Z")
Martini Enfield writes: \> The Reigning Sovereign doesn’t have a passport, but interestingly enough, she \> doesn’t have a Driver’s Licence either- even though Her Majesty can legally \> drive (she learnt during WWII). Indeed, she can also fix cars. She learned to be a driver and a mechanic during World War II in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service. astorian writes: \> I’ve heard such rumors, and it’s entirely possible, even likely, that they’re true. \> Still, “Da Valero” is an odd, interesting name for an unmarried mother to make \> up. Who knows why she made up the story of her supposed husband being a Spanish sculptor? Perhaps it has something to do with the urban legend of many Irish people being descended from Spanish sailors washed ashore on Ireland after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. (As we’ve discussed here, it’s clearly false.) She’d heard this story in Ireland, and on finding herself pregnant decided that it would make a slightly exotic origin to have the supposed father be Spanish. Maybe she knew some artists in New York and thought that being a sculptor would be an interesting job for the supposed father. Incidentally, in the Irish movie _The Snapper_, the pregnant young women there tells everyone that the father of her baby was a Spanish sailor she had a drunken encounter with. (In fact, it was a married friend of her father that she had the encounter with.) I haven’t read the book by Roddy Doyle that the movie is based on. I flipped through it quickly and couldn’t find what her claim about the father was there. Incidentally, if I were a detective and wanted to research the probable fatherhood of De Valera, I would start with the wealthy French family that Catherine Coll worked for as a maid. Maybe she was seduced by someone in that family. When she became pregnant, this guy paid her off and she created the story of Juan de Valera. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/34 "2009-01-10T14:56:00Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Well, for one thing, don’t British passports still say “in the name of her Majesty the Queen, please let this person pass freely”? So, presumably if the Queen needed a passport someplace, she could just write one up herself on a bar napkin or something: “Hello, I am the Queen. Please let me in. Thanks ever so much. [signed]Elizabeth II, By the Grace of God, etc., etc.” It’s “Her Brittanic Majesty’s Secretary of State requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance…” It always makes me laugh when I read it. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/35 "2009-01-11T01:44:50Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Incidentally, in the Irish movie _The Snapper_, the pregnant young women there tells everyone that the father of her baby was a Spanish sailor she had a drunken encounter with. (In fact, it was a married friend of her father that she had the encounter with.) Thank you, **Wendall Wagner**! I saw that movie years ago and enjoyed it, and wanted to rent it awhile ago, but couldn’t remember the title! The one line that cracked Mrs. Piper and me up at the time, and that we keep feeding each other, came in the pub, after the girl had given birth. Her dad, now a grandad, was sitting at the bar and told the pub-keeper, “He’s 8 pounds.” Wizened old drinker sitting beside him says, “Is that a baby or a turkey you’re talking about?” Proud grandad says, “A baby!” “Ah,” says the old duffer. He takes a pull from his pint, then says, “That’s big for a baby.” Takes another pull, then says, “small for a turkey.” For some reason, that just appealed to the Piper senses of humour. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/36 "2009-01-11T03:56:07Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > It’s “Her Brittanic Majesty’s Secretary of State requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance…” Now, this is where we colonials differ. My passport says, “The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada requests, in the name of Her Majesty The Queen, all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.” Plus the equivalent in French. Nothing about ‘requires’, and nothing Brittanic about it either. On the other hand, how many places have a government department in charge of [del]overseas hookups[/del] foreign affairs? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/37 "2009-01-11T04:22:05Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Now, this is where we colonials differ. My passport says, “The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada requests, in the name of Her Majesty The Queen, all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.” Plus the equivalent in French. Nothing about ‘requires’, and nothing Brittanic about it either. New Zealand passports have “The Governor General in the Realm of New Zealand requests in the name of Her Majesty the Queen etc”, whilst the Australian one has “The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, being the representative in Australia of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, requests etc”. I do vaguely recall my old NZ passport having “Require and Demand” instead of “request”, though, but I may be misremembering that. > [@](#): > > On the other hand, how many places have a government department in charge of [del]overseas hookups[/del] foreign affairs? 🙂 Most Commonwealth countries, I’d assume. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/38 "2009-01-11T04:40:26Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > It’s “Her Brittanic Majesty’s Secretary of State requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance…” > > It always makes me laugh when I read it. It’s the “and requires” bit that I like. Obviously that carried a bit more weight in the 19th Century. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/39 "2009-01-11T14:31:10Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > On the other hand, how many places have a government department in charge of [del]overseas hookups[/del] foreign affairs? 🙂 South Africa does. We have one for “home affairs” too. (And “land affairs”, “environmental affairs” and “water affairs”, though those are less susceptible to double entendres. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400/40 "2009-01-11T14:50:13Z")
I can’t find a list of all the countries with departments of foreign affairs, but I think it would be a long one. It’s the U.S. that’s unusual by calling it the department of state. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-u-s-citizens-been-the-legitimate-head-of-state-of-another-country/480400.md?page=3)