You said; ""President" is a proper noun and capitalized only when referring to a specific person who holds that title, ..."
I was going by the "rule" that you stated in post #10. I guess my problem was following a rule that you did make.
OK, let me break this down Barney-style for you.
Is the word "president" followed by a name? If it is, then it is a proper noun and it is capitalized.
Is the word "president" not followed by a name? If this is the case, then it is a common noun and not capitalized.
I don't think I can make it any clearer than this.
Follow the rules or not. It's up to you. They are still the rules.