When Franklin Roosevelt was president of the United States, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau one day brought him a letter from the British Chancellor of the Exchequer addressed to "Mr Henry Morgenthau", with no official title. Concerned with the content of the dispatch, Morgenthau had overlooked the omission.
After reading the answer Morgenthau had prepared, Roosevelt said, "The substance of it is all right, Henry, but you have made a mistake." Somewhat flustered, Morgenthau asked, "What have I done?" Said Roosevelt, "It should be addressed to Mr --, with no title, just the way your letter was addressed." Needless to say, the next message from the Chancellor of the Exchequer was properly addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury.
富蘭克林．羅斯福任美國總統時，有一天，財政部長亨利．摩根索向他呈上英國財政大臣的一封信，信件稱謂是「亨利．摩根索先生」，不書官銜。摩根索只留意信件的內容，沒有覺察這遺漏。
羅斯福讀畢摩根索擬就的回信，說道：「亨利，回信內容不錯，但你犯了一個錯誤。」摩根索有點惶惑，問道：「我錯在那裏？」羅斯福說：「回信稱謂應是某先生，不書官銜，和你收到的信一樣。」其後英國財政大臣的來信，當然就依照規矩，寫上「財政部長」的官銜。