When Should the Word “President” Be Capitalized?

[Dewey_Finn]

BTW (and this may be more about etiquette than style), I vaguely remember seeing something about not referring to former POTUSs as President [whatever] but instead using whatever their highest title was prior to assuming the presidency. The idea, as I remember, is that only the current POTUS should be referred to as such.

[Musicat]

@WillFarnaby

Another poster claims something called the Gregg Reference Manual (1992) [s]ays something different. I don’t have access to these references.

If there is some disagreement between the references, can you comment on which of these references is used more widely in general? Never heard of Gregg tbh.

I do have access to all those references (an editor must).

Since others have commented on the Chicago Manual, I won’t bother to check my 17th Edition of that unless someone asks or thinks it likely that the 16th & 17th editions significantly differ.

In the 2001 edition of the Gregg Reference Manual, 9th Edition, it says:

[Par 312b:] …Some titles, like that of the President of the United States, are always capitalized…
examples: Yesterday the president, Julia McLeod, revealed her plans to retire next June.
BUT: Yesterday President Julia McLeod revealed her plans to retire next June.

Also

[Par 312d] Do not confuse a true title preceding a name (such as Judge) with a generic expression (such as federal judge).
Judge Ann Bly OR federal judge Ann Bly (BUT NOT: federal Judge Ann Bly)

[UltraVires]

@Dewey_Finn

BTW (and this may be more about etiquette than style), I vaguely remember seeing something about not referring to former POTUSs as President [whatever] but instead using whatever their highest title was prior to assuming the presidency. The idea, as I remember, is that only the current POTUS should be referred to as such.

I recall this as well, but I believe that even 25 years ago this had fallen by the wayside.

I agree with your style point, and it was explained to me as: There is only one President or Governor at a given time. So, if in 1989 you called former President Reagan “President” then that was a faux-pas in that you were saying that there were (at least by your address to him) two presidents when there can only be one. Same way with Governor.

However, as there are many senators or congressman at any given time, it is not a diminution of title to refer to a former senator as Senator Smith even if he has been out of office for years as others, the current officeholders, can still be a senator.

I remember asking my professor why the same logic held true as there are only 100 U.S. Senators at a given time, so if you use the term for former senators then you are saying that there are 150 or 160 senators. She basically told me that she didn’t write the fucking book.

But, I believe that it was an archaic rule then. For all of my life former presidents and governors have been addressed as President and Governor.

[Tamerlane]

@DSYoungEsq

This, at least, is patent nonsense. It might be such an indicator to you, but to most of us it would simply indicate that either the person didn’t care much about “proper” punctuation, or that they simply made a mistake. At least, that’s what I would think; I don’t know what president obama would think, but I doubt much he cares.

Agreed.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. Grammar is no exception ;).

[GreysonCarlisle]

@WillFarnaby

I am reading the the Chicago Manual of Style says no.

I do love some of the answers they give at CMOS Online. Regarding how to pronounce CMOS, they replied:

A. In an in-house poll of editors, marketers, and production staff, “SEE-moss” won by a landslide, followed in an even split by “SEE-mose” and “poTAHto.”

[Acsenray]

The general question has been more than adequately answered by Exapno.

If I’m writing my own personal style, then capitalization of a title is an exception to the general rule. The general rule being that only a person’s actual personal name gets capitalized. The exception is that if the title is used immediately preceding the personal name.

But more philosophically speaking, I believe that no title based on a public office should ever be capitalized. I would prefer a system in which we don’t allow individuals to claim a personal status based on holding a particular public office or other job. In other words, the office never belongs to the person, so one would never say “Senator John Smith,” but rather “[the] senator from East Flapjack John Smith,” or “John Smith, [the] senator from East Flapjack.”

[Exapno_Mapcase]

@WillFarnaby

If by “doesn’t matter” you mean it doesn’t mean anything about where the person is coming from, I disagree. If someone came in referring to Obama as president obama, that is a clue to something about their ideology.

You can certainly believe this, if you like, but I very much doubt that anyone else does. The fact remains that no capitalization “rules” exist, only styles allowing for near infinite variation. Hell, the number of people who don’t cap anything (or all cap everything) on the internet is legion.

It’s true that if someone eschews consistency to make an ideological point it will stick out and be noticeable. And you may find such examples online especially. So what, is my response. This is irrelevant for 99.99% of all usage. For the other 0.01% of the time, it’s just another structural marker in a world full of them.