• AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Emily Post says:

    When addressing a former President of the United States in a formal setting, the correct form is “Mr. LastName.” (“President LastName” or “Mr. President” are terms reserved for the current head of state.) This is true for other ex-officials, as well. When talking about the person to a third party, on the other hand, it’s appropriate to say, “former President LastName.” This holds for introductions, as well: A current state governor is introduced as “Governor Tom Smith,” while you’d introduce an ex-governor as “former Governor Jim Bell.”

    • theherk@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      And from an embassy’s official page:

      Addressing Former Presidents

      When sending letters to former Presidents, the proper form for addressing the envelope is: The Honorable (President’s name)

      The proper form for the salutation in the letter is: Dear Mr. (President’s last name)

      But I vaguely remember military training suggesting that using President Name was a correct term when referring to former presidents. Possibly not though, and I didn’t work in protocol, so the state department seems like a pretty good resource.

      • tarmac@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        It reads to me like they’re just avoiding repeating “former” over and over. It’s already established it’s the former president earlier in the text.

  • Zip2@feddit.uk
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    2 months ago

    I believe “Cunt” applies to the last one. Mr or President, take your pick.

  • TheBananaKing@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    :stares in Australian:

    We don’t address people by their job title here, and we’d laugh in your face if you insisted on it.

    Perhaps a small exception for ‘doctor’, but that’s acknowledging the doctorate, not the job.

    • z00s@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      We do, but only for the current PM. Once you’re out though, it’s back to Mr / Ms

      • TheBananaKing@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        If you think the words ‘prime minister Morrison’ would ever have passed my lips…

        … or ‘prime minister Albo’ for that matter, they’re all overgrown fucking real estate agents.

    • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Yet the idea underpinning it is sound. It’s to separate the office from the individual. If you attach reverence to the role, not the person, you make it easier to change the person and avoid dictatorship.

      • TheBananaKing@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        It doesn’t read that way to me - I see it far more as “you have won at life, you are better than other humans”, exactly the kind of thing narcissists crave.

        • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Not if the alternative is that people begin to see the role and the person as the same thing. That’s the dream of every would-be dictator. A certain chancellor of Germany knew this very well in 1934 when he abolished the titles of Chancellor and President and made the army swear its oath to him personally.

          This is just standard political theory: to protect democracy, respect its institutions. Absolutely does make sense to me.

  • Furbag@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    The current President is “President <lastname>”.

    Former presidents are “Mr. <lastname>” or “Former President <lastname>” depending on the context in which they are being referred to.

    Anybody still calling Obama or Trump “president” are just virtue signaling.

      • Furbag@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Former President is not a title, but you are not always given the title of President just because you’ve held the office. The guy in the chair right now is the President. There can only be one at a time.

        There might be times where you would refer to someone who was a former President as being president, but that’s context specific. For example:

        “Donald Trump is the 45th President of the United States.” - Accurate. Even though he no longer holds the office, he is still the 45th president in the present tense. When he dies, it will be “Donald Trump was the 45th President of the United States.”.

        “President Trump instituted a Muslim Ban via executive order in January of 2017.” - Accurate. The text describes actions that Trump took while acting as President of the United States. It is appropriate to confer his title at the time to give context to the statement.

        However:

        “President Donald Trump is running for re-election in November.” - Inaccurate. He is not the President, Joe Biden is. FORMER President Donald Trump, however, is running for re-election.

        This is not hard. It’s basic English, not politics.

  • jqubed@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    IIRC customarily a former president of the United States of America is still addressed as, “Mr. President.” In written form such as a news article I think it would be “former-president Clinton” or “former-president George H. W. Bush” if you need to distinguish between two presidents with the same last name, and subsequent references would be to “Mr. Clinton” or “Mr. Bush” as long as there’s no ambiguity, but I would defer to whatever style guide applies to your writing. I’m pretty sure that’s covered in the AP Stylebook and that’s as good an authority as any for US English. I have an old copy somewhere but it’s not easily accessible right now.

  • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    However they wish to be addressed. Nothing in properness or etiquette is necessarily objective. If I was president, I’d let you use my actual name.

  • Etterra@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Depends on the president. The current one I’d go with “heya Joe” but the former one I’d go with “hey jackass.”