Why “Citizen Four”?

On the hypothetical origin of a pseudonym

The other night I finally had the opportunity to watch Citizenfour, the Award-winning documentary by film director and producer Laura Poitras. The film’s title intrigued me.

I read somewhere that CITIZEN FOUR was a pseudonym or code name used by Edward Joseph Snowden when he first contacted Laura Poitras by email.

I was quite intrigued by this pseudonym until I remembered the following, which may or may not shed light on Edward Snowden, his wit and his dedication to democracy.

I remembered that The Federalist Papers, published between 1787 and 1788, were a collection of 85 articles and essays written under the pseudonym Publius by three authors, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. Publius is Latin for « citizen » (public). This pseudonym was used in honor of Publius Valerius Publicola, a Roman consul who helped establish the Roman Republic in 509 BC. The name Publicola means “friends of the people” and Publius (or Citizen Four!) is way better than John Doe…

« I used to work for the government. Now I work for the public.» (Edward Snowden’s Twitter tagline)

By the way, Snowden worked for Booz Allen Hamilton… This may also explain, somehow ironically, his pseudonym!

It doesn’t take long to associate America’s fourth citizen to a hypothetical fourth Federalist. Edward Snowden also seems to believe in and to defend the American Constitution in his own way, perhaps way more than many many other self-professed « patriots ». It thus seems quite natural for such a dedicated person to impersonate a fourth Federalist, alias “Citizen Four”.

« It cannot be doubted that much of the opposition which has made its appearance, or may hereafter make its appearance, will spring from sources, blameless at least, if not respectable — the honest errors of minds led astray by preconceived jealousies and fears. »

Today, Edward Snowden may well be called, more appropriately I believe, « Citizen Firth », for he has truly honored the spirit of Alexander Hamilton.

« Hamilton, as Publius, argues that political motives are irrelevant to the truth of arguments made in their behalf. Arguments stand or fall of their own weight and can neither be enhanced nor diminished by knowledge of the motives that gave rise to them. The irrelevance of motives to the truth of arguments is one of the main reasons why the authors of these papers choose to use a pseudonym. »

« Citizen Four » is a plea against tyranny. Long live the Fourth Federalist!

PS. These lines are only my own way of connecting some elusive dots. Unless confirmed by @Snowden himself, there’s nothing firm about this theory.