It’s an offer many of us would not think twice about: ceremoniously heading one of the most wild card countries and freedom to flex their muscle as they squeeze their neighbor’s balls whenever someone eggs them. Not Albert Einstein though.
Einstein was offered the chance to be president of Israel in 1952 but he turned down the chance. The Israeli presidency is an honorary role, and the scientist – a Jew but not an Israeli – pondered on what to tell the ambassador. He didn’t want to accept the offer and so decided to phone ambassador in Washington directly, rather than send a telegram.
The ambassador, however, asked Albert Einstein for a written statement, which the latter wrote in a moving manner.
Sample this:
I am deeply moved by the offer from our State of Israel (to serve as President), and at once saddened and ashamed that I cannot accept it. All my life I have dealt with objective matters, hence I lack both the natural aptitude and the experience to deal properly with people and to exercise official functions. Therefore I would also be an inappropriate candidate for this high task, even when my old age didn’t interfere with my forces more and more. [...] … I wish from the bottom of my heart that a man is found who will be able to take over the hard and responsible office due to his work and his personality.’
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