president & First Lady

[Kathleen Miller]

The New York Times style book dictates capitalizing when used in reference
to the President and First Lady of the United States.

First Lady, "Capitalize when used in reference to the wife of a President
of the United States or of a foreign country where the term is used, or the
wife of a governor of a state."

President, "It is President Manley (without first name) in a first
reference to the President of the United States. First names are used in
first references to presidents of foreign countries... Capitalize a
President and Presidents in all references to the President of the United
States, even general ones...."

The Los Angeles Times, "capitalize all references to the President of the
United States."
They list First Lady as well.

The Wall Street Journal lower cases, "all references to the wife of a chief
of state or a governor" and capitalizes president, "only as a formal title
before one or more names."

How's that for inconsistency?

Kathleen Miller


At 03:10 AM 6/29/99 -0400, you wrote:
>     A brief check shows "First Lady" in all three New York City
>newspapers--New York Times, New York Post, New York Daily News.
>    Major news sources such as the Washington Post, Reuters, AP, and
>Bloomberg use "first lady."