was/is when talking about former positions

Hi, AnstronRoy,

@AnstonRoy posted:

Dear GE,

May I know how to use was/is when talking about past CEOs pupils etc. For example, when we talk about someone who is longer e.g. Reagan

is it

1) Reagan is a past president ofthe U.S.A. or Regan was...

2) Regan is a past pupil of Eureka Colleage or Regan was..

The words past/alumnus/former etc already mention they are not currently in those positions. So, is it necessary to put was instead of is ?

Also I want to know does this rule change based on the fact are they still living or not. For example Obama was/is the first African-American president of the United States ? 

In all those cases, both 'is' and 'was' are possible and this depends mainly on the context. 

@AnstonRoy posted:

What if we talk about him when he was in office. Say in 2010 is it still Obama was or is ?

If you mention a year in the past or a certain action in the past, you should use the past simple.

Hi Ahmed,

Thank you so much for the reply.

@ahmed_btm posted:

In all those cases, both 'is' and 'was' are possible and this depends mainly on the context.

Could you tell me an example (with the context)  the same sentence use "is" and "was" depending on the context ?

@AnstonRoy posted:

Hi Ahmed,

Thank you so much for the reply.

Could you tell me an example (with the context)  the same sentence use "is" and "was" depending on the context ?

The present simple is used when you provide someone with facts. You just use statements of fact.
- Reagan is a past president of the U.S.A. and is considered the the GOP political Saint. His era is one of the …...
If you want to stick to the past and just give an account of what happened, you should use the past simple.
- Reagan was a past president of the U.S.A. and was considered the GOP political Saint. His era was one of the …..