When a Senator leaves office it is still proper to refer to him/her as Senator XXXX. Same thing goes for judges and miliatry personnel (i.e. Admiral X).
Is it proper to still call Ronald Reagan (for instance) President Reagan? Or is this title lost upon leaving office?
I should probably know this but for some reason I’m drawing a blank.
According to Tip O’Neil’s authobiography “Man of the House”, it is customary to refer to an office holder by the “highest” office they achieved; thus, when Christian Herter was Mayor of Boston, he was still called “Mr. Governor” or “Governor Herter” by friends and acquaintences because of his previous term as Governor of Masssachussets. Therefore, one could make the argument to call Bill Clinton Mr. President after he leaves office, even should he return to public life in another office.
Generally, though, given the small pool of former presidents, the best suggestion is to just ask them what they want to be called.
I don’t know what official protocol is on this, but I remember that the N.Y. Times began referring to George Bush (Sr.) as Mr. Bush a month before he left office (though after he lost the election to Clinton).
To some extent, I would guess that this decision is based on political compatibility between the ex-President and the person referring to that President (for example, the National Review continued to refer to him as President Bush).
It is customary to refer to an official by their current title, and when they have no title, then by the highest title they held previously. When you run into someone like Alexander Haig, who was both a cabinet member and a general, his preference determines what is appropriate.
By the way, it is appropriate to refer to a sitting President as Mr. XXX in all references after the first.
Messrs. Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush should all be called Mr. President if you are speaking to them. No matter what you think of them, they deserve at least that much respect.
I don’t know if Gerry Brown, Mayor of Oakland, insists on being called “Governor” still. I imagine he probably prefers “Mayor Brown.”