I would say, “First Gentleman,” but I have the term “First Spouse” being tossed around as well.
The problem I see with not calling him First Gentleman is, it opens the door for too many jokes. “They don’t call him First Gentleman because he’s no gentleman - just ask Monica!”
Sort of like a couple of my friends from academia, both of whom had PhDs, and whose return address labels listed them as “Doctor[sup]2[/sup] Lastname”.
Premier Gigolo.
But what happens when Hill sends a bill to the hill?
Some Congressmen will make puns, some will be confused.
I believe there have been a bunch of really sexist, traditional duties for the First Lady, like meeting with the White House Historical Society, arranging teas and luncheons, ordering new china and so forth. I remember seeing an article suggesting that Chelsea Clinton may take on some of these responsibilities.
Good prep for Clinton III.
I would seriously hope that Bill is put to good use in policy and diplomacy matters, however ex-officio and without portfolio.
Aside:
Why would that matter? They’re always known. The codenames aren’t for purposes of secrecy, but for clarity of communications. All people protected by the Secret Service have code names that sound clearly distinct, so there’s no confusion when someone talks about “John” or the like.
OMG… that is nearly Perfect! In truth how about, “May I please introduce President Clinton… and… President Clinton…?”
Firm handshakes to follow
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Oh and to those “golf pros” who, after they won, would still slag them? Maybe… just maybe… they’ll forgive you because they’re just “bleeding heart liberals”.
Maybe… just maybe… they’ll look at you and say those Three Little Words that you So Need To Hear…
“No. Fly. List.”
They’ll be staff in the East Wing to handle stuff like that, and Bill will just show up at dinners and public events. Are former presidents after formally introduced as “former President John Doe”? I though it was just “the Honorable John Doe”.
The White House staff will refer to him as 42. That’s how they do it now since a lot of the staff doesn’t change with administrations. For formal introductions they can be President Clinton and Former President Clinton or even President Clinton and Mr. Clinton. Informally, he is definitely the First Dude.
The Secret Service is keeping the Clintons’ code names (Evergreen and Eagle).
BTW-looking at that link, I wonder how much input a person gets into their name (because calling Al Gore “Sawhorse” is hysterical).
Also, I was just wondering to my mother the other day whether Bill will get any representation in the Smithsonian’s First Ladies’ Collection, especially since they have made it more about all of the activities of the First Lady, rather than just the dresses. Will his inauguration night tuxedo go on display? (It would be much more of an interesting question if her wasn’t a former President himself).
Nah, sounds about right.
How about Head Gardener? Someone’s got to run Michelle’s vegetable garden and Hillary will be too busy presidenting.