american english - Understanding U.S. President capitalization


I was taught at an early age in the USA that when we write about our President, we are supposed to capitalize the title in order to signify that it's on the federal level. Is it correct to always do this? And what about saying "the presidency" -- should that be "the Presidency"?



Answer



I learned that in school too! But I don’t think many people actually follow that rule (which means it isn’t much of a rule).




  • AP style does not have this rule. It prescribes what mgb suggests in an answer below: capitalize only when the official title precedes the name. President Clinton has served as president since 1993. This style seems most common in practice.




  • The Chicago Manual of Style agrees, as Sven Yargs points out in the comments below.




  • Some writers, maybe 5% to 10%, follow the rule you described.




The question of which is correct ultimately hangs on what you mean by correct. This is one of the questions where there is no strong consensus. There is no ultimate authority, no Supreme Court of Capitalization, to settle the issue.


However there is a consensus on one point: in sentences like Thank you for joining us, Mr. President, it seems President is always capitalized.


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