What is the correct spelling for the nation's leader?

The correct spelling of the word for the nation's leader is President: capital P, then r-e-s-i-d-e-n-t, with one s in the middle and the ending -ent (not -ant). The word comes from the Latin praesidens, the present participle of praesidere meaning to preside or sit in front of, and entered English through Old French. The most common spelling errors are doubling the s (Pressident), substituting the ending (Presidant), or missing the second e (Presdent).

The title is capitalized when used to refer to the specific holder of the U.S. office (the President of the United States) and lowercase when used generically (presidents of many countries). On the USCIS writing test the applicant is asked to write one of three sentences correctly to demonstrate the ability to write in English under section 312 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The USCIS officer reads the sentence aloud and the applicant writes it by hand on a tablet or paper; the applicant must write at least one of the three sentences clearly enough to be understood.

Sentences containing the word President are common on the test, including "The President lives in the White House," "Who is the President now?" and "The President signs bills." The civics test also asks applicants to identify the current President and to describe presidential powers. Knowing how to spell President correctly and recognizing it in the writing test sentence is a discrete skill that supports both the writing requirement and the civics requirement at the naturalization interview.

USCIS administers the writing test by reading a sentence aloud (often twice) and asking the applicant to write it on a tablet or paper. The applicant has three attempts and must write one sentence clearly enough to be understood; minor spelling errors are forgiven if meaning is preserved.