Two Letter Word
In a two-letter word, medieval kings invoked the authority of God. Even though these men were well-schooled in how they, or their near ancestors, wrested the throne away from other men, generally through bloody conflict, they still continued their “origin myth”. It’s called the “divine right of kings”: God Almighty ordained this man or this family, as rulers.
That God somehow placed his “grace” on a pagan-worshiping Viking named Rollo, who brutally conquered Normandy in 918, is hard to figure. Rollo kidnapped the daughter of a conquered city’s leader; forced her to marry, and had a son that founded the Norman line of Royalty. Five generations and a century and a half later, his illegitimate descendant William conquered England, and founded his own line of English rulers. And because they believed, or wanted others to believe, that they were “endowed” by God with their throne, his grandson, Henry II, began speaking in “pluralis majestatis”, the “Royal ‘We’”. How can I, the King, be wrong, if God put me here?
It remained true until the present era. The Norman line was succeeded by the Plantagenets, the Tudors, the Stuarts, the Hanovers and finally the House of Sax-Coburg and Gotha who changed their name to Windsor. King Charles III, sixth in the Windsor line, spent an entire lifetime speaking in the singular as Prince, not King. Queen Elizabeth, his mother, often used the plural tense in her public speeches. But when she passed away last year, he was confronted with the “Royal We”. Would, the newly crowned king continue to invoke this“divine right” in this 21st Century? In his first public speeches as King, he broke millennia of tradition, referring to himself, in the singular. He said “I”.
Singular or Plural
As a track coach, I represented my team. When I did media interviews, I often spoke in the plural. I wasn’t invoking a deity; “We planned the season to have our best performances here.” That wasn’t me and God. It was me and my amazing coaching staff, or me and our dedicated athletes (see the ‘our’ there; they aren’t just ‘mine’, those athletes ‘belonged’ to the coaches, the school, their parents, themselves, and me too). I represented all of our efforts, our team. But when I talked about what I wanted, or what I hoped my best athletes could achieve, I intentionally used ‘I’, not ‘we’.
When a candidate is running for public office, it’s easy to slip into the “Royal We”. After all, the candidate is backed by a whole campaign team: a manager, media consultants, and volunteers. And on the bigger campaigns; there’s “body-men”, hairstylists, and makeup artists; as well as all of the issue experts whispering possible answers in the candidate’s ear. The candidate is the tip of the iceberg, and is well aware of everyone supporting him from “below”.
The Candidate
But in the end, only the candidate’s name is on the ballot. And when that candidate says things like; “…In our speech, we will say…” or, “… We don’t think there should be unlimited funds to Ukraine…”; it sounds a whole lot more like the “royal we” then it does a person representing a team. In the 2024 campaign, the prime “royal we” user is the second leading candidate for the Republican nomination for President, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis.
I know, you’re thinking this is “much ado about nothing”. Surely Ron DeSantis isn’t invoking God on his side by using “we” instead of “I”. But how can we be sure? Mike Johnson, the newly christened Speaker of the House of Representatives, made it quite clear that he believed he is “ordained of God” to be in his high office, second in line for the Presidency. Is Ron DeSantis trying to remind fundamental Christians that he’s on “God’s side”? And if God’s on his side, then the corollaries must apply: God is always right, and those against God, well, you know who’s on their side.
Or we can look at Donald Trump, another man who uses the “Royal We” constantly. I don’t believe Trump sees himself as ordained by God, but I do think he uses “we” as a way to dodge individual responsibility for his actions. I guess if I had ninety-one felony charges against me, I’d be looking to spread the blame around as well.
We Vote for One
When voters enter the ballot booth (or check their mail ballot), they aren’t voting for a team. The right-wing extremists who claim Joe Biden is senile; they aren’t talking about the staff or cabinet, they mean Biden in the singular. When we vote in America, we vote for a person, not a Party (unlike the United Kingdom). We are choosing an individual, to take individual responsibility for their office, and their actions.
For those of faith, there’s hope that God does endow the elected with leadership and insight. But as John F. Kennedy told us in his inaugural address:
“With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
He was speaking in the plural, for the entire nation. But he was well aware that he was the singular President, responsible for his own decisions and actions.
It cost him his life.
