# Who does not have to call POTUS "Mr. President"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605 "2017-04-30T22:29:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/41 "2017-05-03T00:03:34Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > _looks around furtively_ > > You…uh…you want us back? Are you kidding me? We could tax you up the wazoo and live high off the hog for a while until you got another rebellion together. And the way you’re cooperating with each other these days I figure about 10 years at least on Easy Street. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/42 "2017-05-03T00:04:22Z")
You do realize that you would be responsible for all of the debt, right? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/43 "2017-05-03T00:12:14Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > Easy there fuzzy little man peach. Thank you, **Weisshund** , it’s always helpful to have an indication at the commencement of a reply that the rest of the post isn’t worth one’s time. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/44 "2017-05-03T02:54:32Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Are you kidding me? We could tax you up the wazoo and live high off the hog for a while until you got another rebellion together. And the way you’re cooperating with each other these days I figure about 10 years at least on Easy Street. 🙂 We Canadians will have picked off the good bits by then anyways. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/45 "2017-05-04T16:54:43Z")
I remember a bit on West Wing in which an old friend of Bartlett’s visits him in the Oval Office and wonders how to address him. Bartlett replies, Mr President, because it’s a measure of respect for the office. Those were the days. ((((sob!))) ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/46 "2017-05-05T20:32:11Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I’m afraid your story can’t be true. My parents met him on a number of occasions (formal events, private cocktail parties etc - it was work related), and you are coached in how to address him. ‘Your Royal Highness’ on first meeting, ‘Sir’ thereafter. That’s also what the [Buckingham Palace website](https://www.royal.uk/greeting-member-royal-family) itself stipulates. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/47 "2017-05-06T04:42:24Z")
Don’t them there Democrats call him “Not my Mr. President”? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/48 "2017-05-06T05:20:12Z")
My bet is that, when addressing his reflection in the mirror, Trump refers to himself as Mr President. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/49 "2017-05-06T10:47:27Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Americans aren’t as hung up on titles as us Brits. Prince Charles for instance demands that everyone bar close relatives address him as Your Royal Highness on every single occasion they need to speak to him. It’s a running joke among his servants. Even the Queen isn’t that anal, allowing servants to use Ma’am with her. If the guy ever gets to be king it’ll be like Versailles under Louis XIV. That doesn’t seem to be true. There are a lot of disparaging stories about him, like the one about his cook having to boil a dozen eggs at different times so that his will be perfect when it is served. It is true that he does not encourage informality, but I think that to compare him to Louis XIV is stretching it a bit. > [@](#): > > At 60, after a lifetime of deference, he is acutely aware of his position, as is everyone who works with him. They refer to him as the Boss. To his face all staff, from the most lowly valet to Sir Michael Peat, his powerful Private Secretary, call him Sir or Your Royal Highness. > > [Prince Charles may never be King Charles](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/3413430/Prince-Charles-may-never-be-King-Charles.html) On the general point about being “hung up on titles”; I don’t think that’s true at all. I have met a few of the nobility over the years and they universally played it down. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/50 "2017-05-06T11:17:55Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Am I the only one who finds “Mr. President” to be a bizarre construction? In Ireland, I believe it’s usual to say, as it might be at the opening of a speech, just “President”. Or at least, it was when they had a female President. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/51 "2017-05-06T11:19:09Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > Why continue to waste time and resources on a bunch of indians and upstarts 1000’s of miles across the sea, nothing but a money pit anyways. Indeed, and it gave us the impetus to use Australia for our convicts instead. Erm… ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2017, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/52 "2017-05-07T03:17:50Z")
Only slightly related - but [funny](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6pYMzPEtKg). ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2017, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/53 "2017-05-07T06:31:42Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Incidentally he’s made no secret of the fact that of all his royal forebears he honours most the memory of George III. That tells you all you need to know about the man. George the fucking Third! The moron who lost us America. A quick bit of reading shows that he probably had no choice at all in the matter. No colony had been given what they were asking for, it would have set an unacceptable precedent. Once war started both parliament and the British people were against any negotiation or settlement with “the rebels”. And of course his mental illness in later years is not exactly his fault is it? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2017, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/54 "2017-05-07T21:56:36Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > How, then, would a non-Catholic, or a non-Christian, address the Pope? > > However formally polite, would it be hypocritical for a non-believer to address him as “Your Holiness”? > > (My own answer: I’m a non-Christian, but I would have no problem calling him “Your Holiness”.) The Pope is, after all, a head of state, and “Your Holiness” is the correct styling. Either is appropriate, and certainly anyone with manners would use the correct styling. The styling “Holy Father” is also okay. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/55 "2017-05-08T12:10:37Z")
Let me preface this by saying I have no direct information. With that said, I have a close Naval Officer friend whose father served with G. H. W. Bush in WWII and had remained friend with him. I met this friend a few times and the last time I was with him I couldn’t help but ask some questions. This one came up and he said: When we were in the Navy together everyone called him ‘Poppy’ [I think that was it !@#^$\*@] and I called him that for years. But once he was the President, he’s been “Mr. President” ever since. Nothing else. He’s did tell me that he’s no longer the President, and that I’ve known him as Poppy longer that Mr. President, that that didn’t mean anything to me. He’ll be Mr. President to me forever." Not sure if that is universal or not. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/56 "2017-05-08T13:03:41Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Don’t them there Democrats call him “Not my Mr. President”? No, we call him that “[Whiny little bitch](https://twitter.com/hashtag/whinylittlebitch?lang=en)”. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/57 "2017-05-09T18:17:20Z")
Forgetting Trump, do we have any clear examples on who called Obama “Barack” or “Barry” or similar info on Bush, Clinton, or Bush Sr.? Very curious about those recent Presidents. I have to think Biden slipped in a “Barry” here or there. I mean, come on, bro! Especially after his second Icehouse Tallboy! ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605/58 "2017-05-09T22:32:43Z")
> [@toast\_pakora](#): > > I remember a bit on West Wing in which an old friend of Bartlett’s visits him in the Oval Office and wonders how to address him. Bartlett replies, Mr President, because it’s a measure of respect for the office. I wonder if you’re thinking of the episode in which Bartlet is staying up through the early hours waiting for news that might force him to make a decision that could cost many people their lives. He asks his longtime priest to stay up with him and offer counsel. The priest, who’s called him “Jeb” for decades, asks him how he wants to be addressed. He says “Mr. President,” because it reminds him of the great responsibility his decision carries. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-does-not-have-to-call-potus-mr-president/785605.md?page=2)