post-presidency

Factual Questions
1

disclaimer- my knowledge of politics and government is greatly lacking so any assumptions made are of my own ignorance.
If most U.S. Presidents are former governors before gaining office why don’t they run for governor again once out of office??

Do they feel that U.S. President is their greatest career goal so once they got that why go back??

Do they figure theres more money and less work involved in doing appearances, speeches, and books in post-presidency??

Is it against the law to run for office once you were president??

I would think that if they were in politics for love of their state/country (bad assumption??) that they’d try to get back into office somewhere.

2

It has generally been tradition that presidents have more or less retired from politics after their terms Many have taken up more humanitarian-type causes, or taken to the lecture circuit. There’s no law against running for office again, but most former presidents have an eye toward how they will be viewed by history. I think most would consider a return to politics as a step down from their former position.

A few have returned to public life. For example, to just name two, John Quincy Adams left the presidency in 1828, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1830, where he served until his death 1848. Also, William Howard Taft left office in 1912, but was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1930.

3

After being the most powerful man (in most senses of the word) in the world, being the governor of any state is going to be a bit of a let down. Add to that the amount of money that can be made on the lecture/rubber chicken circuit and there’s probably not much call for staying active in politics except on a behind the scenes level.

John Quincy Adams served (and died) in the House of Representatives after being President, and John Tyler was elected to the Confederate Congress but died before taking office, but I’m hard pressed to remember any other Chief Executives who served in another elected post after leaving the White House.

4

He was appointed in 1921 (by Harding) and served until 1930. It should be noted that Taft was appointed directly to the post of Chief Justice, and that he liked that job much better than being president. He considered it a fulfillment of a lifetime dream, and was never comfortable with the politics of elected office while president. It might have something to do with the fact that his tenure on the Supreme Court is probably more noteworthy than his term as president.

5

Most U.S. Presidents have been fairly elderly by the time they completed their term and have gone into a less demanding line of work (either lecturing or serving on corporate boards of directors.)

There is no law forbidding a former President from running for office, unless the President was impeached and convicted (which has never happened), and excepting the constitutional provision that after serving two terms, a person is ineligible to be President again.

In the 19th Century, I believe John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives after his term expired. In the 20th Century, William Howard Taft was appointed Chief Justice after he left the White House.

Here’s the rundown of 20th Century Presdients after leaving office, as best as I can recall.

T. Roosevelt – ran for President again on a 3rd party ticket, was wounded in an assasination attempt.

Taft – was appointed Chief Justice

Wilson – was in poor health when he left office

Harding – died in office

Coolidge – was 56 when he left office. Retired from public life and died 4 years later.

Hoover – served on commissions for Truman and Eisenhower

F. D.Roosevelt – died in office

Truman – was nearly 70 when he left office, retired from public life

Eisenhower – was 70 when he left office and had health problems

Kennedy – died in office

Johnson – was 61 when he left office, but had a history of heart problems. He retired and died within 5 years.

Nixon – resigned office and mostly retired from public life, except for speaking engagements.

Ford – was 63 when he was defeated for re-election. There was some talk about him running for Vice-President with Ronald Reagan, but that didn’t materialize. He then mostly retired from public life.

Carter – was 56 when he left office. Has served as a U.S. envoy several times, but mainly devotes his time to Habitat for Humanity and other charitable organizations.

Reagan – was 77 when he left office, had survived an assasination attempt and surgery

George H. W. Bush – was 58 when he left office. He said repeatedly during Clinton’s term that a former President should not speak out publicly and risk undermining the authority of a sitting President.

Clinton – was 52 when he left office and now is mostly known for public speaking.

So there were only a few Presidents who were young and healthy enough to remain in public life. I suspect many, like George H.W. Bush felt constrained from being in a public position where they would be expected to comment on their successors.

6

Andrew Johnson was elected to the Senate by the Tennessee Legislature in 1874, but died shortly afterward.

7

I hate to nit-pick, kunilou, but Gerald Ford never ran for re-election in 1976.

8

Whoops! Good catch. :smack:

9

kunilou writes:

> Clinton – was 52 when he left office and now is mostly known
> for public speaking.

Trivial nitpick: He was 54.

10

And the Elder Bush was 68, not 58, when he left office.