# Writing a letter to government officials - etiquitte?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-a-letter-to-government-officials-etiquitte/195004>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 13, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-a-letter-to-government-officials-etiquitte/195004 "2003-08-13T20:24:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-a-letter-to-government-officials-etiquitte/195004/1 "2003-08-13T20:24:23Z")

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I am writing a letter to a couple of government officials and I would like it to follow etiquitte as properly as possible. Do you greet the more senior/important official first in the salutation?

IE -  
Dear Mr. Important and Mr. Not-Quite-So-Important? Or do you go alphabetical or something?

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**Author:** ![frixxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-a-letter-to-government-officials-etiquitte/195004/2 "2003-08-13T20:34:46Z")

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Seperate letters work best if you are trying to cover more ground with the same issue. Looks less like a form letter.

But you can try starting of the letter :

From: You

To: Name  
Name

CC: Name  
Name

Subject: I hate/like what you’re doing

Or in some form of that.  
Listing names in order of importance is always the norm.

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**Author:** ![frixxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-a-letter-to-government-officials-etiquitte/195004/3 "2003-08-13T20:34:50Z")

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Seperate letters work best if you are trying to cover more ground with the same issue. Looks less like a form letter.

But you can try starting of the letter :

From: You

To: Name  
Name

CC: Name  
Name

Subject: I hate/like what you’re doing

Or in some form of that.  
Listing names in order of importance is always the norm.

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**Author:** ![frixxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-a-letter-to-government-officials-etiquitte/195004/4 "2003-08-13T20:40:16Z")

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Sorry for the double posting

:smack:

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**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-a-letter-to-government-officials-etiquitte/195004/5 "2003-08-14T14:21:13Z")

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I agree with **frixxx** – use two letters or a cc:. (The letter should be addressed to the more senior person and cc:'d to the other.) Typically in business correspondence the cc: line is at the bottom, under the signature block.

–Cliffy

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**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-a-letter-to-government-officials-etiquitte/195004/6 "2003-08-15T18:42:56Z")

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I agree with Cliffy - write a letter, not a memo.

Somthing like:

Your address

Date

The Honorable John Smith  
Address

Dear Mayor Smith:

[text of letter]

Sincerely,  
Bernse

cc: The Honorable Jane Doe  
The Honorable Jack Jones  
The Honorable Mary Brown

And then switch the names around as appropriate if you expect a response from each of the officals - generally officials would only respond if the letter is written to them, but not if they were only cc’ed on a letter.

You can look up forms of address (ie, whether to use “Mayor Jones” or “Mr. Jones” in the back of a dictionary.)

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**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-a-letter-to-government-officials-etiquitte/195004/7 "2003-08-15T20:45:57Z")

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Thanks for the input!

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-a-letter-to-government-officials-etiquitte/195004/8 "2003-08-15T23:40:51Z")

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FYI - If your letter is going to government officials in Washington, DC, do not expect a quick answer.

No, not politics. 🙂

Mail going to government offices in DC is scanned for anthrax, etc, before delivery. We’re told at work eight to twelve weeks from posting to delivery.