# John Smith XVI — Short Fiction character guide

> John Smith XVI in Short Fiction by Walter M. Miller Jr..

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** John XVI, John, The seventh John Smith, Smith, John Smith, Smith XVI

**First appearance:** 0000-conditionally-human

## Snapshot

A hereditary president in a golden headdress, facing a masked rival across a blurred broadcast screen and discovering his script was written for a world that no longer exists.

## Who they are

John Smith XVI sits down to a historic broadcast with Ivan Ivanovitch, the masked chieftain of the Asian League, and finds his careful disarmament preamble met with a gutteral 'Why?' and an accusation of talking Achesonian. The Red knows things he shouldn't — that Smith cannot speak the Russo-Asian dialect, that his prepared text is a shield rather than an offer. The seventh man to carry his name, he is learning that a title inherited sixteen times over buys no leverage in a conversation where the other side has already stopped pretending.

## Relationships

### [Ivan IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/ivan_ix)

_rivalry_

Ivan IX and John Smith XVI are hereditary rivals, each leading factions in a centuries-old cold war.

### [Ivan IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/ivan_ix)

_rivalry_

Ivan IX and John Smith XVI are hereditary rivals, each leading factions in a centuries-old cold war.

### [Ivan IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/ivan_ix)

_rivalry_

Ivan IX and John Smith XVI are hereditary rivals, each leading factions in a centuries-old cold war.

## In the story

### [Check and Checkmate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/chapters/check-and-checkmate)

The President orchestrates a security probe and military buildup after a revealing conversation with the Red leader.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/john_smith_xvi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters