Bill Washington of Leon Springs, Texas, near San Antonio, is plain Mr. Washington and Paul's son. He told the San Antonio Express-News he is just as glad the father of his country decided to be a temporary head of state.

"The French Revolution started right after ours and they were beheading noblemen left and right," Bill Washington said Tuesday. "It probably wouldn't have taken very long for something like that to bring us down."

The first president had no known children, and some historians have speculated that he might have chosen to become king if he could have passed it on to an heir.

Bill Washington and his father, Paul Emory Washington, are descended from Washington's brother, Samuel. Dr. Lawrence Washington, the president's great-nephew, moved to Texas in 1849.

Ancestry.com determined that Paul is the senior descendant in the male line, which would make Bill third in line to the throne after his father and older brother -- if there were a throne.