The first and only Romanian President with a sceptre
After a reign in Romania which lasted almost two decades, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej`s death in 1965 sparked a struggle for political supremacy amongst members of the Romanian Workers' Party.
Consolidating power
Ceaușescu was elected officially as the new leader of the Romanian Communist Party in 1965. From that moment on, the new leader in Bucharest started to consolidate his political power. He dismissed Gheorghiu Dej`s closest allies from key positions within the Party, and replaced them with his own trusted people, reorganising the institutional basis of the Party.
One of the most important decisions made at the 9th Communist Party Congress in July 1965, an event which formally installed Ceaușescu as the new leader, was to rename the Romanian Workers Party (a structure created in 1948 through the union of the Communist Party of Romania and the Social-Democrat Party – in fact the dissolution of the Social-Democratic Party) to the Romanian Communist Party. In doing this, Ceaușescu was making a statement that Romania was entering a new era and embracing socialism.
From an institutional point of view, during Gheorghiu Dej`s time, the Party was led by a structure called the Political Bureau. Ceaușescu changed this framework by replacing the Political Bureau with an Executive Committee composed of a higher number of members – creating the illusion of a reformist leader with a more democratic ethos. The Executive Committee also elected a newly created Permanent Presidium which consisted of a narrow group, loyal to Ceaușescu, who was in fact the true leader of the Party.
Ceaușescu becoming president and Salvador Dali`s reaction
According to the Constitution of 1965, the Communist Party was the leading political force in Romania. The state was ruled by the Council of State which, in turn, was led by a president. Nicolae Ceaușescu was the President of the Council of State starting from 1967. But until 1974, the function of the President of Romania, as such, did not exist. It was then when Ceaușescu decided to totally take the formal control of the state by modifying the Constitution and creating the position of President of Romania. Of course, this was a decision aiming to consolidate his image both internally and externally. Even so, the moment when he assumed his new role embodied something special.
It is common knowledge that a sceptre is a symbol of rule and a token of monarchies. By trying to establish a connection with Romania's past, Ceaușescu became the first president to bear a sceptre. Ceaușescu’s election ceremony, paired with the moment when he received the sceptre, was broadcast live, containing footage that was both shocking and hilarious at the same time.
The image of Ceaușescu with a sceptre rapidly reached the worldwide news, making it – as we would say today – viral. Many reactions and controversies were generated but one of them is undoubtedly worth mentioning. On seeing the footage, the famous artist Salvador Dali sent a telegram to Ceaușescu “congratulating” him. The text of the telegram is as hilarious as the event in itself:
‘I deeply appreciate your historic act of establishing the presidential sceptre.’
The hilarious event went one step further when the authorities from Bucharest decided to publish Dali’s telegram in the official newspaper of the Communist Party, Scînteia, oblivious to the telegram’s ironic message. Amusing as it may seem, the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu became fully established through the presidential sceptre.
This blog is part of the editorials of Europeana Subtitled, a project which enabled audiovisual media heritage to be enjoyed and increased its use through closed captioning and subtitling.