Bill Clinton is Not the President

I heard some radio talk show host discussing the idea of sending a delegation of former Presidents of the United States to try to get Israel to settle down. I have no considered opinion on the matter, but I was rather peeved that the guy kept referring to “President Clinton.” Bill Clinton is not the President anymore, and people technically shouldn’t be using the title.

You may have heard of Senators and Governors being called by those titles long after they are out of office, and that’s okay. They are allowed to keep the honor of the title for holding the office. But the rules are different for the President (and the Vice-President).

The general rule—established by Thomas Jefferson, I believe—is that official titles which are only held by one person at a time should not be used after the person leaves office. Note that it’s the title, not the office, that has to be unique. There’s only one Governor of Illinois, but there are many people with the title of Governor. There are also a lot of Senators, but there’s only one President.

There’s also only one Vice President, so he loses the title too when he leaves. I’m not sure about the Chief Justice of the Supreme court.

So what should Bill Clinton be called? (Please don’t go there.) The answer is that he reverts to his previous title, which is the highest title he held before becoming President. Ex-President Bill Clinton is now Governor Clinton.

Jimmy Carter is also still properly referred to as Governor Carter.

As for George Bush Senior, well, he’s now back to being Ambassador Bush.

It’s not that important, and I don’t know why this bothers me, but does.