In my lifetime I have seen only two monarchs rule Great Britain, yet there have been thirteen Presidents of the United States since my birth. Imagine that. Britain had one queen for a long time, and now it has yet another king. Thirteen people (out of the 46 we’ve had in our history) took on the most important job in our country, and served for a few years each. This may support the idea that some people do have a job for life. That seems to be a passing concept these days, and not one we prefer.
The late Queen Elizabeth II devoted her entire life to the service of her country. She was born royal, she took on the great responsibility of being the monarch and retained that duty to her last breath. Not that one or two four-year terms of a president makes them any less devoted, but for the men who have served our nation, there have been times before and after that service in which they were ordinary people. Monarchs don’t do that.
We in the “colonies” are in a social system in which we like to switch people around. When election time comes, we don’t always let the last official stay in office, which sometimes means we fluctuate between one system of government and another every few years. Sometimes we find a huge population of our citizens feeling either contentedly stuck in the system they like, or mired in the wrong system for those few years.
The monarchy, however, stands strong with their people ready for record-holding periods of rule, and the citizens don’t seem to mind. The proof is that Elizabeth II had the longest reign ever (over 70 years) and Victoria placed second with 63 years on the throne (two kings came in next in the 50-year-plus category). We had one president (Franklin Roosevelt) who served three terms because it was available to be done, and another (William Henry Harrison) lasted a month.
The back-and-forth two-party government has been difficult and increasing polarizing lately, yet watching the coronation of the new rulers across the pond brings some hope that, whether one is born to duty or elected to it, we can handle change and thrive in it regardless of how it happens.
Who knows what will happen in the years to come?
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