Historically, have any former presidents gone back to a "real job" after they served?

Factual Questions
1

Maybe this is a poorly worded question.

When I think of modern former presidents, I think of them doing speaking gigs, maybe serving a little on institutional boards, maybe working with non-profits. In other words, stuff that is more due to their former office than what a great manager or intelligent person they are. Pansy jobs, ya know.

I imagine historical former presidents (Washington, Jefferson, etc) went back to running their farming estate. I guess this is real work, but it is aristocratic and self employed, so I don’t think of this as counting.

Have any former presidents gone back to a “real job?” Maybe for a corporation? Any that worked 8 to 5 and got a paycheck?

2

Lots of ex presidents have. Off the top of my head I know that William Howard Taft was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after his presidency.

3

Taft, if you call being a Supreme Court Justice a real job.

Not that it isn’t, I can just see where someone might pooh-pooh it.
Oh, and I think Washington and maybe some of the other early ones went back to being farmers and lawyers and whatever they were before being elected.

4

Grant became an author - I believe quite a few others wrote autobiographies or memoirs.

A few ran universities.

Teddy R. killed a bunch of large animals.

5

John Quincy Adams served eight terms in the House of Representatives after his presidency.

6

I would consider that a real job.

I addressed this in the OP. Since they were wealthy aristocratic plantation owners, I didn’t consider that a “real job.”

7

That is a big drop in power. I can’t imagine any modern president doing that.

8

Chester A. Arthur went back to being a lawyer after his term in office. He was rather ill, though, and died about two years after leaving office.

9

Yeah, me either.

10

Harry Truman’s post-presidency may be of interest:

11

Wasn’t that the disease they named after him? Chester A. Arthritis?

12

Not quite the same thing, but Sam Houston served as a U.S. Senator and Governor of Texas after serving as President of Texas.

13

Andrew Johnson, who had been a Senator before being picked to be Lincoln’s VP in 1864, went back to his old Senate seat. But he only served four months of his term before his death.

John Tyler also went back into Congress. But not the United States Congress, which is why we don’t talk about John Tyler.

14

Representatives had more relative stature in John Quincy Adams’ day. It was still a drop in station, but more like returning to the Senate in modern day terms. Of course, that would be unusual, too. Only Adams and Andrew Johnson served in congress after leaving the Presidency (Johnson was a Senator).

15

There’s a book on Carter that mentions his early struggles after leaving office. His farm and business had been put into a blind trust. It was badly managed while Carter was in office. There was a lot of debt. Carter would have needed years of work to set things right. Friends came together and cleared the debt. Freeing Carter to focus on the Carter Center and charity work.

16

Not quite the same… Richard Nixon was a lawyer IIRC between his VP and P jobs. I’m sure any big law firm would be happy to add “former VP” to their list of partners.

17

Gerald Ford was on the board of several companies after his presidency, including the one my dad worked for.

18

I think he was an incredibly powerful and influential Representative, though, since he had been President.

19

Grover Cleveland went back to practicing law, although it may have been his playing the stock market that enabled him to achieve financial success after he left office.

20

Though he couldn’t get slavery banned.