Capitalization

Proper nouns should be capitalized.
        John Adams          Empire State Building      Grand Canyon

Office titles or honorifics are capitalized when they immediately precede a person’s name; otherwise, they are lowercased. Also, if a modifier (such as the) is used before a title or honorific, the title or honorific uses a lowercase letter.
        It was President George Washington who led the Constitutional Convention.
        George Washington, the president, led the Constitutional Convention.
        George Washington was the president who led the Constitutional Convention.
        It was nice to see former president George Washington retire to his country home.

The full names of administrative and legislative bodies, departments, and offices are generally capitalized.
        United States Congress          Department of Defense          Office of the President

If bodies, departments, or offices are used as adjectives, then lowercase letters are used.
           the congressional delegation

Adjectives derived from proper names are usually capitalized.
        Shakespearean          Thomist          Cartesian

Do not capitalize the second part of a species name.
        Homo sapiens          Australopithecus africanus



*See Titles section for the capitalization of titles.