The Reverand Homer A. Tomlinson was the son of the leader of the Church of God, a small sect of the Pentecostal church or the Holy Rollers. Born in 1892, Tomlinson at first didn't want to be a preacher like his dad. He worked in an advertising agency in New York in 1916. After a while he entered his father's ministry and went off to form a little splinter group of his own. Tomlinson claimed to have a following of over 50 million when in reality the number was around 3,000.

In 1952 Tomlinson claimed he was the new Messiah and started to run for US President. He started a party of his own called the Theocratic party. The party was for the union of church and state, the abolishment of taxation, the return of tithing, and to create two new cabinet positions: Secretary of Righteousness and the Secretary of the Holy Bible. (You can buy a pin from the campaign at http://www.havelshouseofhistory.com/catalog/tomlinson_for_president__1968_1711185.htm)

Tomlinson suddenly topped his campaign off by proclaiming himself "king of the world". He proclaimed that a new sovereign was prophesied in the Bible and he was sure that the scriptures refered to him. He travelled frequently to different countries. He visited 101 countries for short coronation ceremonies performed at different airports. Tomlinson would dress in blue robes, hold an inflatable plastic globe as a sign of his authority, and while sitting in a folding chair, have a gold painted crown on his head.

Tomlinson claimed that because of his "kingly" efforts many wars and revolutions had been averted, including one between Israel and the Arabs. He claimed that his visit to Moscow in 1958 lifted the "iron curtain", but the press only referred to him as "an American actor".

The Mammoth Book of Oddballs and Eccentrics
http://www.biblehistory.com/Church%20of%20God.html

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