What Do We Call Bill Clinton?

Hillary Clinton will be the 45th President of the United States. We’ll almost certainly address her as Madam President: the or Argentina. Someone over at Wikipedia is dead certain that First Gentleman will apply to the president, too, and even if there aren’t sources to back it up, it’s the logical choice.

It’d be the logical choice for a man with a less colorful past, anyway. Bill Clinton cannot be our first First Gentleman. (Not that the first First Gentleman of a state was any better—”Pa Ferguson” was removed from the Texas governorship for corruption charges, only to have his wife take office.)

What else could we call him? Let’s do this the A Hundred Monkeys way: make objectives, create names, and talk it out. Good names will accomplish one or two of these per name:

Make it inclusive. As we progress as a country, we’ll see new partnerships enter the White House. That might mean unmarried couples or same-sex couples.*

Play off of established conventions. We could also create a neat dichotomy with “lady,” or translate titles used in governments other than our own.

Get Bill on board. Give a man a title, and he’ll use it for a day. Give a man a nickname, and he’ll use it for life.

* Fun fact: Shehu Shagari, president of Nigeria from 1979 to 1983, was a polygamist. None of his wives were referred to as the “first lady.”

• We believe that Bill would be into this
• Great for disambiguation (see Bush 41 & 43)
• Not related to his position, though

• Closest counterpart to lady, after “gentleman”
• Somewhat badass
• Leans religious and British

• A male title that’s unpretentious—that’s rare
• The first time fellow presidents would be married
• Nice alliterative sound
• Could get Bill on board (though he’d say “fella”)

• Bill has joked that he’d call himself Adam
• But this is just plain weird, right?

• Gender-neutral (could even replace First Lady)
• Used in many countries, though they’re monarchies
• Not exactly geared toward spousal equality

• Bill needs husband cred
• Both Switzerland and Brazil have used this term
• Not perfectly matched with “Lady”

• Inclusive of gender and marital status
• Suggests working with the president, not for
• Could Bill enjoy the Western feeling?

• What we’ve used throughout this post
• Makes Bill seem down-to-earth
• Doesn’t solve the problem of official title

• Bill himself has said he’s cool with this
• Sarah Palin pioneered it with her own husband (unclear whether Bill is aware)
• Future First ____s likely won’t use it

Which name do you think Bill should take? Respond to our Twitter poll of our favorites and let us know.