# Impeachment question (part 2) - how soon, after impeachment, must a president leave WH? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeachment-question-part-2-how-soon-after-impeachment-must-a-president-leave-wh/845144 "2019-12-20T16:13:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeachment-question-part-2-how-soon-after-impeachment-must-a-president-leave-wh/845144/21 "2019-12-22T00:38:19Z")
> [@Tempe\_Jeff](#): > > President Trump will be dragged out of the White House, just like; Clinton was during his Term. In other words, your Liberal Politicians are far more corrupt than Trump. " Support Slavery vote for Democrats". Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeachment-question-part-2-how-soon-after-impeachment-must-a-president-leave-wh/845144/22 "2019-12-22T01:35:52Z")
In a normal transition the White House staff plans ahead and manages to [move the outgoing president out](https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/presidential-inauguration-white-house-move-in) and the incoming president in over the course of just a few hours. Most everything is done during the hours of the inauguration ceremony and ensuing celebrations. I don’t know if it would be considered improper for the staff to conduct preplanning in advance of an impeachment vote. Might be a bit presumptuous having moving trucks pulled up to the White House as we watch the impeachment vote take place. So I suspect, from a practical standpoint, that moving the stuff out might take longer than moving the person out. Still a day or two tops and it should all be done. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeachment-question-part-2-how-soon-after-impeachment-must-a-president-leave-wh/845144/23 "2019-12-22T04:42:31Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Could Pence let him stay there as an advisor, or assign him any other post? Why on Earth couldn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeachment-question-part-2-how-soon-after-impeachment-must-a-president-leave-wh/845144/24 "2019-12-22T04:55:56Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Why on Earth couldn’t he? I agree. Harry Hopkins moved into the White House when Franklin Roosevelt was President. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeachment-question-part-2-how-soon-after-impeachment-must-a-president-leave-wh/845144/25 "2019-12-22T06:37:12Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I’ve tried searching but have not found anything that says that Jimmy Carter’s mother Lillian lived there during his presidency. Maybe some spouses of children have lived there at times. Barack Obama’s mother-in-law moved into the White House to help look after the daughters. > **[Marian Shields Robinson | Obama campaign and life in the White House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Shields_Robinson#Obama_campaign_and_life_in_the_White_House)** > > While Michelle and Barack Obama campaigned for his candidacy as president in 2008, Robinson helped them by providing support to her granddaughters, Malia and Sasha Obama. During Barack Obama's presidency, Robinson was living at the White House with the First Family. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeachment-question-part-2-how-soon-after-impeachment-must-a-president-leave-wh/845144/26 "2019-12-22T11:34:28Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > It seems okay that PotUS can have a spouse and children staying there as well as occasional guests. > [@Senegoid](#): > > Say what? Isn’t it perfectly standard and usual that the president’s immediate family (wife and kiddos) live at the White House full-time? ”AS WELL AS” occasional guests, not “AS” occasional guests. > [@](#): > > As for Trump overstaying his welcome: Not bloody likely. He is (allegedly) on record as saying the White House is “[a real dump](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-white-house-dump_n_5981003be4b0353fbb33554c)” That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t reverse his opinion if it suited him to do so. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeachment-question-part-2-how-soon-after-impeachment-must-a-president-leave-wh/845144/27 "2019-12-29T07:36:45Z")
When Tramp rips off his humanoid mask to reveal the insect insect inside, the Mole People will come for him. I read that somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeachment-question-part-2-how-soon-after-impeachment-must-a-president-leave-wh/845144/28 "2019-12-29T09:52:05Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > There is no historical precedent since it’s never gotten to this point yet before in U.S. history, but suppose that the Senate does vote 2/3 to convict Trump. I assume this means that Trump becomes ex-president the moment the gavel bangs down on the desk. Pence is in, and is administered the oath. > > Now, does Secret Service (which would have been watching on TV as well) promptly begin packing up Trump’s possessions and putting them in boxes and evict him out of Oval Office, etc. that very minute? > > A normal impeached president, presumably, would have long since anticipated such a possibility and would have already planned out his “life after presidency,” including where the helicopter ought to take him next, but Trump isn’t typical. Does Secret Service also then send a few trucks to move Pence’s stuff from Number One Observatory Circle into the White House that day? Pure speculation, but I think the relevant decision maker would be the White House Chief of Staff. There are several things that need to be done quickly if a US President suddenly departs office. And there are almost surely plans for those things - presidential assassination is still a real risk. But as for removal from the White House, the Chief of Staff would probably ask the ex-President how he wanted to handle it, but also establish a timetable and boundaries. Most of the White House would probably be off-limits - the two exceptions being the Presidential offices and the Residence. The ex-President would probably be permitted to say goodbye to staff, have a couple of meetings related to the transition, and retrieve any personal items from the Oval Office, all presuming he wanted to, but I imagine he’d be given a day at most to do so. After that, he’d be restricted to the residence and given a clear expectation that he needed to leave as soon as possible. Pack what you need, and the cleaners will send the rest afterwards. As for the new President? Switching bedrooms is probably well down his extensive list of things he needs to get done. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeachment-question-part-2-how-soon-after-impeachment-must-a-president-leave-wh/845144/29 "2019-12-29T10:47:28Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > On August 8, 1974, Nixon announced he would be resigning effective noon the following day. That morning he got aboard Marine One from the White House Lawn and then transferred to Air Force One which flew him to California. During the flight, his resignation took effect, Ford was sworn in. > . So while Nixon was in the air and Ford was in Washington getting sworn in…where was that one Secret Service agent who carries the briefcase with the “football” (nuclear launch codes)? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeachment-question-part-2-how-soon-after-impeachment-must-a-president-leave-wh/845144/30 "2019-12-29T18:11:21Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > So while Nixon was in the air and Ford was in Washington getting sworn in…where was that one Secret Service agent who carries the briefcase with the “football” (nuclear launch codes)? On the one hand … I would presume that there are two or more footballs at all times so that there is a backup in case something happened to the main one. So one could have gone with Nixon and the other kept behind to be around Ford after the swearing in. The Nixon one would be sent back on the return flight of the momentarily former AF1. But … People were seriously concerned about Nixon acting crazy in his last days. The football may have been “forgotten” as he was flown off the White House lawn. Normally, at the transition point, both the old and new Presidents are in the same location. Even with the JFK-\>LBJ one, LBJ went to Parkland Hospital and was there when JFK died. The football (which was a new thing then) was then following LBJ around, including his flight back to DC. The fact that JFK was killed on a trip with LBJ accompanying him resulted in no problem then. But one wonders what the procedure would be if PotUS died at a location far from the Veep. It would seem to me that instead of the two scenarios given above, that there could be a football at least in the general vicinity of the Veep at all times to ensure an uninterrupted chain of possession of the codes and such. The situation of an impeachment vote removing the Prez while the Veep is not near the former would be akin to the death-of-PotUS situation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeachment-question-part-2-how-soon-after-impeachment-must-a-president-leave-wh/845144.md?page=1)