I see that President Biden is now “Irish American”, apparently because his great-great-grandfather was Irish.
I was equally surprised when President Trump wanted to claim Scottish roots.
Is it because America is such a relatively young country, and so its residents - especially prominent ones - would like to have a link to some older country?
I couldn’t imagine Canadians (correct me if I’m wrong, @KwakeCanuckInFrance ) or South Americans doing the same thing (though Canadians obviously have the immeasurable advantage of being members of the Commonwealth).
I’ve seen Zimbabweans and Kenyans claim to be English and Scots based on distant ancestry. My good Canadian friends recall their Scandinavian and Irish heritage.
In S Africa’s Eastern Cape, most anglophones are descendants of so-called '1820 English Settlers, who were actually from all over the British Isles, but shared a common background of economic deprivation at ‘home’ due to the Enclosure Acts or the Highland Clearances.
Conversely, cities like New York and Boston still have large Irish communities, and of course students from the Republic can study in US universities without being penalised by higher overseas student fees. The inability of successive English governments to understand US : Irish relations is nothing new.
Lastly Biden’s a practising Catholic - anathema to the English Anglican political establishment (remember Blair’s theological contortions while PM). As far as I’m aware the country has never had a Catholic PM - that subject’s worthy of another thread, but I won’t go there!
For ages in England you couldn’t get a university degree without bring Anglican, so that would have had an effect. Apparently that tosspot A.B. de P. Johnson is a Catholic now.
Ah cross posted.
His mother was a very devout Catholic so her son inadvertently became one at birth. However, while at Eton he accidentally got confirmed as an Anglican along with the rest of his cohort. Bit like him being accidentally American until he got the backdated income tax demand.
Thanks, I forgotten about that conversion / reversion - that old song about the vicar of Bray comes to mind - lyrics ironically available from this seemingly patriotic site:-
Most British universities date from long after the Reformation - as far as I know Oxford, Cambridge (please don’t link to that thread) and St Andrews predate the Reformation. Durham’s the third oldest English university, it dates from 1832 and had/has? three specifically Anglican colleges.
However, the Royal College of Art, which has actually been a university since 1896 never appeared on the show - maybe artists and designers were considered even less welcome than Catholics (how’s that for linking several threads!)
It’s done with a split screen effect, they actually sit side by side, I was in the audience many moons ago.
I seem to remember there was few years the did have them sitting above each other on a set.
