Albert Einstein Was Asked to be President of Israel, But He Turned it Down
As strange as it sounds, Albert Einstein was once offered the Presidency of Israel. After Israel’s first President Chaim Weizmann died in 1952, the nation was left wondering how they were going to choose a new leader. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion offered the position to Albert Einstein.
He stated that if he took the job, Einstein was welcome to continue with his scientific research, but would have to move from his home in Princeton, New Jersey to live in Israel. This job offer probably happened in the first place because Einstein was Jewish, and had expressed support for Israel multiple times in his career. But he immediately turned it down. He wrote back, “I lack both the natural aptitude and the experience to deal properly with people.”
