George HW Bush was the 41st president. George W Bush is the 43rd president.
They are so called so as to ensure that when someone says “President Bush did so-and-so,” you don’t have to ask “Which President Bush?” I don’t know who originated the nicknames.
Both Presidents have the same first and last name (George Bush) with only the middle inital being diffrent and while most people know GW Bush as the younger, not many know what the senior Bush’s middle initial is (do you?)
41 and 43 denotes which presidential number.
George Bush (senior) is the 41st president.
GW Bush is the 43rd president
Bill Clinton (unrelated) is the 42nd president.
The father and son presidents started the trend themselves.
Excuse this WAG from a foreigner, but isn’t it because you spent 172 years calling them John Adams and John Q. Adams and didn’t need a new-fangled way of distinguishing between them just because a father and son happened along?
You could start calling them Adams2 and Adams6 yourself if you like, but don’t be surprised if you get some strange looks.
Fwiw, I first came across the usage in the late summer after 43 became president. It was pretty well established (by then) amongst Condie Rice’s old close friends at Stamford but not, to the best of my knowledge, in the wider world (yet). I guess that makes it about a year and a half ago.
I don’t think it was in use on the board at that point … maybe I introduced it, can’t recall ….
In regards to the Adams thing, significantly more time had passed between their presidencies, and Adams2 was probably not hanging around the White House and the political scene, thus requiring a way of differentiating between the two.
Since John Adams was 89 years old when his son was inaugurated and had been out of public office for 24 years, it’s likely that Adams the Elder was a big part of the political scene.
John Adams’ party no longer existed when his son was inaugurated.