If Hillary Clinton is elected president, what will Bill be called?
When you think of Hillary Clinton's potential presidency, the big "first" that comes to mind -- and rightfully so -- is how she would be the first woman to ever become President of the United States. There is, however, another significant "first" lurking in the background, and it has to do with her husband.
If Hillary Clinton is elected president, Bill Clinton will become the first male presidential spouse in U.S. history.
Similar situations, of course, have occurred in other countries. In Germany, for example, Chancellor Angela Merkel's husband, Joachim Sauer, a chemistry professor, makes very few official appearances by her side. He even skipped her inauguration in 2005.
Margaret Thatcher's husband Denis, a retired businessman, was known as consort to the prime minister when she became the first woman in Britain to hold that position in 1979.
But in the United States, where we're so accustomed to saying "president and first lady," what will a male presidential spouse even be called?
Though Bill Clinton has publicly joked about becoming America's "first dude," the formal title for the role is actually "first gentleman." That being said, as Bill Clinton is also a former president, the moniker is not so simple.
"It's a little bit more complicated with him because people still call former presidents Mr. President," Hillary Clinton noted during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live this February. "So I have to really work on this ... but first dude, first mate, first gentleman, I'm just not sure."
When you look at it that way, the Clintons could very well be referred to as "president and president." Talk about setting a president precedent!
