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Originally Posted by KyleGoetz
1. There is the phrase What is the 視 doing there? The phrase means that there is also an uneasy viewpoint, right? Why would be wrong?
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It would be wrong as 不安 cannot be a verb. 視 here comes from 視線 meaning view (of others).
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2. Also, do you read the prefix 元 in a word like 元国務副長官 (Former Deputy Secretary of State) as もと or げん? I think I'd say もと verbally because I'm not experienced enough to know if げん would leave some sort of ambiguity, being onyomi, but I'm just guessing there.
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It is もと.
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3. I suppose the same question goes for 前 in 前大統領—まえ or ぜん? It's a prefix (so, thus, semantically separable from the rest of the word), but it's part of a compound, so I can't get a feeling either way for which is proper.
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It's ぜん.
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4. Is the difference there between using 前 and 元 that the former is for the immediately preceding person, and the latter is for any other who served before? Like since Bush just left office, you use 前大統領, but for Clinton/Reagan/Nixon you'd use 元大統領 because Bush came after them but before Obama?
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前（ぜん） is more formal and more restricted than 元（もと）. You can add もと to anything and it would mean former, such as 元彼, ex-boyfriend etc. 前 is only used under restricted circumstances like 大統領 or 社長 etc.