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When Israel’s first president died in 1952, the new nation offered the presidency to Albert Einstein — who turned it down, writing that he had neither the natural ability nor the experience to deal properly with people and to exercise official functions

Objectivity score: 59
“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.” That is how Albert Einstein declined an offer that most people would have struggled to refuse: the presidency of a country. The offer Ben-Gurion’s government made Chaim Weizmann, Israel’s first president, died on 9 November 19...