Chancellor (Latin: cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the cancelli (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separated the judge and counsel from the audience. A chancellor's office is called a chancellery or chancery. The word is now used in the titles of many various officers in various settings (government, education, religion). Nowadays the term is most often used to describe:
The head of the government
A person in charge of foreign affairs
A person with duties related to justice
A person in charge of financial and economic issues
The head of a university
Governmental positions
Head of government
Austria
The Chancellor of Austria (Bundeskanzler), is the head of the Government of Austria. Since 2021, the Chancellor of Austria is Karl Nehammer.
Germany
The Chancellor of Germany (Bundeskanzler) is the head of government in Germany. In German politics, the Bundeskanzler is equivalent to a prime minister and is elected by the Bundestag
("Federal Diet", the directly elected federal parliament) every four
years on the beginning of the electoral period after general elections.
Between general elections, the Chancellor (together with the whole
cabinet) can only be removed from office by a konstruktives Misstrauensvotum (constructive vote of no confidence), which consists of the Bundestag electing a successor.
The former German Empire, the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany had the equivalent position of Reichskanzler as the head of the executive. Between 1871 and 1918, the Chancellor was appointed by the German Emperor. During the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), the Chancellor was chosen by the President
and stood under his authority. This continued (formally) during the
first year of the Nazi regime until the death of President Paul von
Hindenburg in 1934. Between 1934 and 1945, Adolf Hitler combined the roles of head of state, head of government and leader of the ruling party, being officially titled "Führer und Reichskanzler" (literally "Leader and Chancellor").
Switzerland
Swiss Confederation
In Switzerland, the Chancellor (German: Bundeskanzler, French: Chancelier fédéral, Italian: Cancelliere della Confederazione)
is not the political head of government, but rather its chief
administrator as the Chief of Staff of the Swiss Federal Government. He
is elected by the Swiss Federal Assembly (German: Bundesversammlung, French: Assemblée fédérale, Italian: Assemblea federale) to head the Federal Chancellery (German: Bundeskanzlei) — the general staff of the seven-member executive Federal Council,
the Swiss federal government. The Chancellor participates in the
meetings of the seven Federal Councilors with a consultative vote and
prepares the reports on policy and activities of the council to
parliament (assembly). The chancellery is responsible for the
publication of all federal laws.
Swiss cantons
In most Swiss cantons there is a State Chancellor who heads the central administrative unit of the cantonal government. In the Canton of Geneva,
the first documents attesting to the existence of a Chancellor go back
to the 12th century. In the 16th century the Chancery is officially
described as the permanent secretariat of the executive and legislature.
The first of these functions still constitutes an important part of its
activities in Geneva and other cantons. In the canton of Bern,
the Chancellor is elected by the Grand Council (i.e. Parliament) and
has the task of supporting the Grand Council and the Executive Council
in carrying out their tasks. The Chancellor directs the staff of the
Executive Council, supports the President of the Government and the
Executive Council in the performance of their duties, and usually
participates as an advisor to the President of the Grand Council in
Grand Council sessions.
Foreign minister and diplomatic official
In most countries of Latin America, the equivalents to "chancellor" (Canciller in Spanish and Chanceler in Portuguese) are commonly used to refer to the post of foreign minister. It is often used as a synonym to the full titles of the ministers of foreign affairs. Likewise, the ministry of foreign affairs in Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas is referred to as the Cancillería or in Portuguese-speaking Brazil as Chancelaria. However, in Spain the term canciller refers to a civil servant in the Spanish diplomatic service responsible for technical issues relating to foreign affairs. As to the German foreign service, the term Kanzler (chancellor) refers to the administrative head of a diplomatic mission.
Functions related to justice and the law
Finland
In Finland the Chancellor of Justice (Oikeuskansleri, Justitiekanslern) supervises the legality of actions taken by the government and monitors the implementation of basic civil liberties. In this special function the chancellor also sits in the Finnish Cabinet, the Finnish Council of State.
In the legal system of the United Kingdom, the term can refer to these officials:
Chancellor of the Exchequer, the finance minister. As one of the Great Officers of State, the Chancellor is generally seen as second only to the Prime Minister in political potency. The title dates back to the Kingdom of England. When the term chancellor is used in British politics, it almost always refers to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. As Second Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor has an official residence at 11 Downing Street, next door to the First Lord of the Treasury, the Prime Minister, at 10 Downing Street, in London.
The Lord Chancellor (Lord High Chancellor, King's Chancellor) is one of the oldest offices of state, dating back to the Kingdom of England, and older than Parliament itself. Theoretically, the Lord Chancellor is the Chancellor of Great Britain. A former office of "Chancellor of Ireland" was abolished in 1922, when all but Northern Ireland left the United Kingdom. The Lord Chancellor is the ceremonially second-highest-ranking non-royal subject in precedence (after the Archbishop of Canterbury). In addition to the now primarily ceremonial duties as Chancellor, the office is now invariably held by the Secretary of State for Justice, who is the political head of the Ministry of Justice. Previously, the Chancellor also held the roles of:
Head of the English, but not Scottish, judiciary. In previous centuries, the Lord Chancellor was the sole judge in the Court of Chancery; when, in 1873, that court was combined with others to form the High Court,
the Lord Chancellor became the nominal head of the Chancery Division.
The Lord Chancellor was permitted to participate in judicial sittings of
the House of Lords; he also chose the committees that heard appeals in
the Lords. The de facto head of the Chancery Division was the
Vice-Chancellor, and the role of choosing appellate committees was in
practice fulfilled by the Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary.
Speaker of the House of Lords. These duties are now undertaken by the Lord Speaker. Jack Straw
was the first Lord Chancellor to be a member of the House of Commons,
rather than the House of Lords or its predecessor, the Curia Regis,
since Sir Christopher Hatton in 1578.
The Chancellor of the High Court is the head of the Chancery Division
of the High Court of Justice. Before 2005, the judge occupying this
position was known as the Vice-Chancellor, the Lord Chancellor being the
nominal head of the Division.
In a county palatine or liberty, where a local lord exercised personal jurisdiction that elsewhere was reserved to the Crown, the head of the lord's administration was often titled "chancellor". Where the lord was a bishop (as with the Bishop of Ely in Isle of Ely or the Archbishop of York in Hexhamshire) then this officer was called the temporal chancellor to distinguish him from the bishop's ecclesiastical chancellor. While palatine and liberty jurisdictions are practically obsolete, the ceremonial title chancellor remains in use:
In
Denmark, the office of chancellor (or royal chancellor) seems to have
appeared in the 12th century, and until 1660 it was the title of the
leader of the state administration (a kind of a "Home Office" but often
with foreign political duties). Often he appeared to be the real leader
of the government. From 1660 until 1848, the title continued as "Grand
Chancellor" or "President of the Danish Chancellery", and was replaced
in 1730 by the title "Minister of Domestic Affairs".
Estonia
In Estonia, a Chancellor (Kantsler) directs the work of a ministry and coordinates institutions subject to the ministry, comparably to a Permanent Secretary in Great Britain. A ministry can also have one or several Vice-Chancellors (Asekantsler), who fulfill the duties of the Chancellor, when they are absent. The Chancellor of Justice (Õiguskantsler, currently Ülle Madise) supervises the legality of actions taken by the government and monitors the implementation of basic civil liberties.
United States
In the United States, the only "chancellor" established by the federal government is the Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, a largely ceremonial office held by the Chief Justice of the United States. As the Smithsonian is a research and museum system, its use of the title is perhaps best thought of as akin to a university's chancellor.
The chancellor is the principal record-keeper of a diocese or eparchy,
or their equivalent. The chancellor is a notary, so that he may certify
official documents, and often has other duties at the discretion of the
bishop of the diocese: he may be in charge of some aspect of finances
or of managing the personnel connected with diocesan offices, although
his delegated authority cannot extend to vicars of the diocesan bishop,
such as vicars general, episcopal vicars or judicial vicars. His office is within the "chancery".
Vice-chancellors may be appointed to assist the chancellor in busy
chanceries. Normally, the chancellor is a priest or deacon, although in
some circumstances a layperson may be appointed to the post.
In the eparchial curia a chancellor is to be appointed who is to be a
presbyter (priest) or deacon and whose principal obligation, unless
otherwise established by the particular law, is to see that the acts of
the curia are gathered and arranged as well as preserved in the archives
of the eparchial curia.
In the United Methodist Church, each Annual Conference
has a Conference Chancellor, who is the Annual Conference's legal
adviser and representative. While the Annual Conference usually hires
outside professional counsel in matters that require legal
representation, that hiring and representation is done under the
supervision, and with the consent, of the Conference Chancellor.
In a few instances, the term chancellor applies to a student or
faculty member in a high school or an institution of higher learning who
is either appointed or elected as chancellor to preside on the highest
ranking judicial board or tribunal. They handle non-academic matters such as violations of behavior.
In Germany many heads of university administration carry the title Kanzler (Chancellor) while the academical heads carry the title Rektor
(Rector). In order to avoid any misunderstanding, the head of the
German Federal Government is therefore usually called by the official
title Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor).
There are two ancient Egyptian titles sometimes translated as chancellor.
The "royal sealer" (xtmtj-bity or xtmw-bity), a title which
conveyed a certain rank at the royal court, attested since the First
Dynasty (about 3000 BC). People holding the post include Imhotep and Hemaka.
The "Keeper of the Royal Seal" (or overseer of the seal or treasurer—imy-r xtmt) was responsible for the state's income. This position appears around 2000 BC. Officials holding the post include Bay or Irsu, Khety Meketre, and Nakhti.
In Norway the Chancellor of Norway (modern Norwegian: Norges rikes kansler, "Chancellor of Norway's Realm") was the most important aide of the King of Norway during the Middle Ages.
He issued laws and regulations, and was responsible for day-to-day
administration of the kingdom. From 1270, the Chancellor resided in Bergen. Haakon V of Norway moved the Chancellor's residence to Oslo; on 31 August 1314 the provost of St Mary's Church became Chancellor on a permanent basis. He was given the Great Seal of the Realm "for eternity." The Chancellors were originally chosen from the clergy. The position lost its importance after Jens Bjelke's tenure, and was abolished in 1679.
President is a common title for the head of state in most republics.
The president of a state is, generally speaking, the head of the
government and the fundamental leader of the country or the ceremonial
head of state.
Five American Presidents in the White House in 2009
The functions exercised by a president vary according to the form of government. In parliamentary republics, they are usually, but not always, limited to those of the head of state and are thus largely ceremonial. In presidential, selected parliamentary (e.g. Botswana and South Africa), and semi-presidential republics, the role of the president is more prominent, encompassing also (in most cases) the functions of the head of government. A leader of a one-party state may also hold the position of president for ceremonial purposes or to maintain an official state position.
President Isaias Afwerki of the State of Eritrea giving a press briefing in the capital Asmara, 2002
The titles "Mr. President" and Madam President may apply to a person holding the title of president or presiding over certain other governmental bodies.
"Mr. President" has subsequently been used by governments to refer to
their heads of state. It is the conventional translation of non-English titles such as Monsieur le Président for the president of the French Republic. It also has a long history of usage as the title of the presiding officers of legislative and judicial bodies. The speaker of the House of Commons of Canada is addressed as président de la Chambre des communes in French and as Mr. Speaker in English.
History
The title president is derived from the Latinprae- "before" + sedere "to sit". The word "presidents" is also used in the King James Bible at Daniel 6:2 to translate the Aramaic term סָרְכִ֣ין (sā·rə·ḵîn),
a word of likely Persian origin, meaning "officials", "commissioners",
"overseers" or "chiefs". As such, it originally designated the officer
who presides over or "sits before" a gathering and ensures that debate
is conducted according to the rules of order (see alsochairman and speaker),
but today it most commonly refers to an executive official in any
social organization. Early examples are from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge (from 1464) and the founding president of the Royal SocietyWilliam Brouncker in 1660. This usage survives today in the title of such offices as "President of the Board of Trade" and "Lord President of the Council" in the United Kingdom, as well as "President of the Senate" in the United States (one of the roles constitutionally assigned to the vice president). The officiating priest at certain Anglican religious services, too, is sometimes called the "president" in this sense.
The most common modern usage is as the title of a head of state in a republic. The first usage of the word president to denote the highest official in a government was during the Commonwealth of England.
After the abolition of the monarchy the English Council of State, whose members were elected by the House of Commons, became the executive government of the Commonwealth. The Council of State was the successor of the Privy Council, which had previously been headed by the lord president; its successor the Council of State was also headed by a lord president, the first of which was John Bradshaw. However, the lord president alone was not head of state, because that office was vested in the council as a whole.
In pre-revolutionary France, the president of a Parlement evolved into a powerful magistrate, a member of the so-called noblesse de robe ("nobility
of the gown"), with considerable judicial as well as administrative
authority. The name referred to his primary role of presiding over
trials and other hearings. In the 17th and 18th centuries, seats in the Parlements,
including presidencies, became effectively hereditary, since the holder
of the office could ensure that it would pass to an heir by paying the
crown a special tax known as the paulette. The post of "first president" (premier président), however, could be held by only the King's nominees. The Parlements were abolished by the French Revolution. In modern France the chief judge of a court is known as its president (président de la cour).
By the 18th century, the president of a Frenchparlement was addressed as "Monsieur le Président". In Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's 1782 novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses
("Dangerous Liaisons"), the wife of a magistrate in a parlement is
referred to as Madame la Présidente de Tourvel ("Madam President of
Tourvel"). When the Second French Republic was established in 1848, "Monsieur le Président" became the title of the president of the French Republic.
In Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses of 1782, the character identified as Madame la Présidente de Tourvel ("Madam President of Tourvel") is the wife of a magistrate in a parlement. The fictional name Tourvel refers not to the parlement
in which the magistrate sits, but rather, in imitation of an
aristocratic title, to his private estate. This influenced parliamentary
usage in France.
The modern usage of the term president to designate a single person who is the head of state of a republic can be traced directly to the United States Constitution of 1787, which created the office of President of the United States. Previous American governments had included "presidents" (such as the president of the Continental Congress or the president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress),
but these were presiding officers in the older sense, with no executive
authority. It has been suggested that the executive use of the term was
borrowed from early American colleges and universities, which were
usually headed by a president. British universities were headed by an official called the "Chancellor" (typically a ceremonial position) while the chief administrator held the title of "Vice-Chancellor". But America's first institutions of higher learning (such as Harvard University and Yale University) did not resemble a full-sized university so much as one of its constituent colleges. A number of colleges at Cambridge University featured an official called the "president". The head, for instance, of Magdalene College, Cambridge was called the master and his second the president. The first president of Harvard, Henry Dunster,
had been educated at Magdalene. Some have speculated that he borrowed
the term out of a sense of humility, considering himself only a
temporary place-holder. The presiding official of Yale College,
originally a "rector" (after the usage of continental European
universities), became "president" in 1745.
A common style of address for presidents, "Mr/Mrs. President", is
borrowed from British Parliamentary tradition, in which the presiding
Speaker of the House of Commons
is referred to as "Mr/Mrs. Speaker". Coincidentally, this usage
resembles the older French custom of referring to the president of a parlement as "Monsieur/Madame le Président", a form of address that in modern France applies to both the president of the Republic
and to chief judges. In the United States, the title "Mr. President" is
used in a number of formal instances as well: for example anyone
presiding over the United States Senate is addressed as "Mr./Madam President", especially the vice president, who is the president of the Senate.
Other uses of the title include presidents of state and local
legislatures, however only the president of the United States uses the
title outside of formal sessions.
The 1787 Constitution of the United States did not specify the manner of address for the president. When George Washington was sworn in as the first president of the United States on April 30, 1789, however, the administering of the oath of office ended with the proclamation: "Long live George Washington, President of the United States."
No title other than the name of the office of the executive was
officially used at the inauguration. The question of a presidential
title was being debated in Congress at the time, however, having become
official legislative business with Richard Henry Lee's
motion of April 23, 1789. Lee's motion asked Congress to consider "what
titles it will be proper to annex to the offices of President and Vice
President of the United States – if any other than those given in the
Constitution". Vice PresidentJohn Adams, in his role as President of the United States Senate, organized a congressional committee. There Adams agitated for the adoption of the style of Highness (as well as the title of Protector of Their [the United States'] Liberties) for the president. Adams and Lee were among the most outspoken proponents of an exalted presidential title.
Others favored the variant of Electoral Highness or the lesser Excellency,
the latter of which was vociferously opposed by Adams, who contended
that it was far beneath the presidential dignity, as the executives of
the states, some of which were also titled "President" (e.g. the president of Pennsylvania), at that time often enjoyed the style of Excellency;
Adams said the president "would be leveled with colonial governors or
with functionaries from German princedoms" if he were to use the style
of Excellency. Adams and Richard Henry Lee both feared that
cabals of powerful senators would unduly influence a weak executive, and
saw an exalted title as a way of strengthening the presidency. On further consideration, Adams deemed even Highness insufficient and instead proposed that the executive, both the president and the vice president (i.e., himself), be styled Majesty to prevent the "great danger" of an executive with insufficient dignity. Adams' efforts were met with widespread derision and perplexion; Thomas Jefferson called them "the most superlatively ridiculous thing I ever heard of", while Benjamin Franklin considered it "absolutely mad".
Washington consented to the demands of James Madison and the United States House of Representatives that the title be altered to "Mr. President".
Nonetheless, later "The Honorable" became the standard title of the
President in formal address, and "His/Her Excellency" became the title
of the President when addressed formally internationally.
Historically, the title was reserved for the incumbent
president only, and was not to be used for former presidents, holding
that it was not proper to use the title as a courtesy title when
addressing a former president.
According to the official website of the United States of America, the
correct way to address a letter is to use "The Honorable John Doe" and
the correct salutation is "Mr. Doe".
Once the United States adopted the title of "president" for its republican head of state, many other nations followed suit.
In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the powers of
presidencies have varied from country to country. The spectrum of power
has included presidents-for-life and hereditary presidencies to
ceremonial heads of state.
Presidents in the countries with a democratic or representative form of government
are usually elected for a specified period of time and in some cases
may be re-elected by the same process by which they are appointed, i.e.
in many nations, periodic popular elections. The powers vested in such
presidents vary considerably. Some presidencies, such as that of Ireland,
are largely ceremonial, whereas other systems vest the president with
substantive powers such as the appointment and dismissal of prime ministers or cabinets, the power to declare war, and powers of veto on legislation. In many nations the president is also the commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces, though once again this can range from a ceremonial role to one with considerable authority.
In almost all states with a presidential system of government, the president exercises the functions of head of state and head of government,
i.e. the president directs the executive branch of government. When a
president is not only head of state, but also head of government, this
is known in Europe as a President of the Council (from the French Président du Conseil), used 1871–1940 and 1944–1958 in the Third and Fourth French Republics. In the United States the president has always been both Head of State and Head of Government and has always had the title of President.
Presidents in this system are either directly elected by popular
vote or indirectly elected by an electoral college or some other
democratically elected body.
In the United States, the president is indirectly elected by the Electoral College
made up of electors chosen by voters in the presidential election. In
most states of the United States, each elector is committed to voting
for a specified candidate determined by the popular vote in each state,
so that the people, in voting for each elector, are in effect voting for
the candidate. However, for various reasons the numbers of electors in
favour of each candidate are unlikely to be proportional to the popular
vote. Thus, in five close United States elections (1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016), the candidate with the most popular votes still lost the election.
In Mexico, the president
is directly elected for a six-year term by popular vote. The candidate
who wins the most votes is elected president even without an absolute
majority. The president is allowed to serve only one term.
In Brazil, the president
is directly elected for a four-year term by popular vote. A candidate
has to have more than 50% of the valid votes. If no candidates achieve a
majority of the votes, there is a runoff election
between the two candidates with most votes. Again, a candidate needs a
majority of the vote to be elected. In Brazil, a president cannot be
elected to more than two consecutive terms, but there is no limit on the
number of terms a president can serve.
A second system is the semi-presidential system, also known as the French
model. In this system, as in the parliamentary system, there are both a
president and a prime minister; but unlike the parliamentary system,
the president may have significant day-to-day power. For example, in
France, when their party controls the majority of seats in the National Assembly, the president can operate closely with the parliament and prime minister,
and work towards a common agenda. When the National Assembly is
controlled by their opponents, however, the president can find
themselves marginalized with the opposition party prime minister
exercising most of the power. Though the prime minister remains an
appointee of the president, the president must obey the rules of
parliament, and select a leader from the house's majority holding party.
Thus, sometimes the president and prime minister can be allies,
sometimes rivals; the latter situation is known in France as cohabitation. Variants of the French semi-presidential system, developed at the beginning of the Fifth Republic by Charles de Gaulle, are used in France, Portugal, Romania, Sri Lanka and several post-colonial
countries which have emulated the French model. In Finland, although
the 2000 constitution moved towards a ceremonial presidency, the system
is still formally semi-presidential, with the president of Finland retaining e.g. foreign policy and appointment powers.
In China between 1982 and 2018, the constitution stipulated that
the president could not serve more than two consecutive terms. During
the Mao era and also since 2018, there were no term limits
attached to this office. In 2018, the term limits of the presidency
were abolished, but its powers and ceremonial role were unchanged.
Presidential symbols
As the country's head of state, in most countries the president is
entitled to certain perquisites, and may have a prestigious residence,
often a lavish mansion or palace, sometimes more than one (e.g. summer
and winter residences, or a country retreat) Customary symbols of office
may include an official uniform, decorations, a presidential seal, coat
of arms, flag and other visible accessories, as well as military
honours such as gun salutes, ruffles and flourishes, and a presidential guard. A common presidential symbol is the presidential sash worn most often by presidents in Latin America and Africa as a symbol of the continuity of the office.
Some countries with parliamentary systems use a term
meaning/translating as "president" (in some languages indistinguishable
from chairman) for the head of parliamentary government, often as
President of the Government, President of the Council of Ministers or President of the Executive Council.
However, such an official is explicitly not the president of the country. These officials are called "president" using an older sense of the word, to denote the fact that the official heads the cabinet. A separate head of state generally exists in their country who instead serves as the president or monarch of the country.
Thus, such officials are really premiers, and to avoid confusion are often described simply as 'prime minister' when being mentioned internationally.
There are several examples for this kind of presidency:
The Prime Minister of Spain is officially referred to as the president of the Government of Spain, and informally known as the "president". Spain is also a kingdom with a reigning king.
From 1963 until 1992, the head of government of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the president of the Federal Executive Council after the 1963 Constitution abolished the office of Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
and transferred its functions to the president of the Federal Executive
Council. Despite this, foreign media sources continued to refer to
individuals holding the office of President of the Federal Executive
Council as being the "Prime Minister of Yugoslavia".
The official title of the Croatian prime minister is President of the Government of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Predsjednik Vlade Republike Hrvatske).
In British constitutional practice, the chairman of an Executive Council, acting in such a capacity, is known as a president of the Executive Council. Usually this person is the Governor and it always stays like that.
Between 1918 and 1934, Estonia had no separate head of state. Both prime ministers (1918–1920) and state elders (1920–1934) often translated as "presidents") were elected by the parliament.
The head of government of Iran is styled as the "President". The Iranian head of state is the Supreme Leader, to whom the president is subordinate.
In Poland, the president of the city (Polish: Prezydent miasta) is the executive authority of the municipality elected in direct elections, the equivalent of the mayor. The Office of the President (Mayor) is also found in Germany and Switzerland.
Russia
Governors of ethnic republics in the Russian Federation used to have the title of President, occasionally alongside other, secondary titles such as Chairman of the Government (also used by Prime Minister of Russia). This likely reflects the origin of Russian republics as homelands for various ethnic groups: while all federal subjects of Russia are currently de jureequal, their predecessors, the ASSRs, used to enjoy more privileges than the ordinary krais and oblasts of the RSFSR (such as greater representation in the Soviet of Nationalities). Thus, the ASSRs and their eventual successors would have more in common with nation-states than with ordinary administrative divisions, at least in spirit, and would choose titles accordingly.
Over the course of the 2010s the presidents of Russian republics would progressively change their title to that of Head (Russian: глава), a proposition suggested by the president of ChechnyaRamzan Kadyrov and later made law by the Parliament of Russia and President Dmitriy Medvedev in 2010. Despite this, however, presidents of Tatarstan
would reject this change and, as of 2017, retain their title in
defiance of Russian law. The new title did not result in any changes in
the powers wielded by the governors.
In Spain, the executive leaders of the autonomous communities (regions) are called presidents. In each community, they can be called Presidente de la Comunidad or Presidente del Consejo
among others. They are elected by their respective regional assemblies
and have similar powers to a state president or governor.
Deputies
Below a president, there can be a number of or "vice presidents" (or
occasionally "deputy presidents") and sometimes several "assistant
presidents" or "assistant vice presidents", depending on the
organisation and its size. These posts do not hold the same power but
more of a subordinate position to the president. However, power can be
transferred in special circumstances to the deputy or vice president.
Normally vice presidents hold some power and special responsibilities
below that of the president. The difference between vice/deputy
presidents and assistant/associate vice presidents is the former are
legally allowed to run an organization, exercising the same powers (as
well as being second in command) whereas the latter are not.
Legislatures
In some countries the speaker of their unicameral legislatures, or of
one or both houses of bicameral legislatures, the speakers have the
title of president of "the body", as in the case of Spain, where the Speaker of the Congress is the president of the Congress of Deputies and the Speaker of the Senate is the president of the Senate.
In French legal terminology, the president of a court consisting of multiple judges
is the foremost judge; he chairs the meeting of the court and directs
the debates (and is thus addressed as "Mrs President", "Madame la
Présidente", "Mr President", or Monsieur le Président. In
general, a court comprises several chambers, each with its own
president; thus the most senior of these is called the "first president"
(as in: "the First President of the Court of Cassation
is the most senior judge in France"). Similarly in English legal
practice the most senior judge in each division uses this title (e.g.
President of the Family Division, President of the Court of Appeal).
Spain
In the Spanish Judiciary,
the leader of a court of multiples judges is called President of the
Court. The same happens with the different bodies of the Spanish
judicial system, where we can find a president of the Supreme Court, a president of the National Court and presidents in the Regional High Courts of Justice and in the Provincial Courts. The body that rules over the Judiciary in Spain is the General Council of the Judiciary, and its president is the president of the Supreme Court, which is normally called President of the Supreme Court and of the GCJ.
Titles for a president's spouse, if female, have ranged from "Marquise" to "Lady" to simply "Mrs." (or "Ms."). If male the title of the president's spouse may be "Marquis", "Lord", or merely "Mr.".
United States
President George Washington's wife, Martha Washington,
was often called "Lady Washington". By the 1850s in the United States,
the term "lady" had changed from a title of nobility to a term of
address for a respected and well-mannered woman. The use of "First Lady" to refer to the wife of the president of the United States was popularized about the time of the US Civil War. Dolley Madison, the wife of President James Madison, was remembered after her death in 1849 by President Zachary Taylor as "truly our First Lady for a half a century". First ladies are usually referred to simply as "Mrs. [last name]".
In the media
On 8 November 2016, the night of the 2016 presidential election in the United States, images of leaked pre-printed copies of Newsweek magazine showed the magazine celebrating the win of the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, with the cover titled "Madam President". It is common for Newsweek
to prepare for the eventuality of either candidate winning, though it
was unusual that it was both published and distributed; the cover was
pulled from newsstands after it became clear that Donald Trump had secured a majority of electoral votes, winning the election.
