# Why don't former Presidents run for other public offices? Or become Cabinet members? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 24, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326 "2023-02-24T23:35:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/1 "2023-02-24T23:35:41Z")
[Few former presidents have run again after leaving office | Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/11/16/few-former-presidents-have-run-for-their-old-jobs-or-anything-else-after-leaving-office/) simply notes that it doesn’t happen, and I was surprised to hear that Quincy Adams is actually the only case of a President returning to Congress. I knew he had done it because of a movie (Amistad?) where he’s portrayed as a Congressman well after his term ended, but it made me think that more of them back then had done it. There’s also Taft who was later on the Supreme Court, but other than that it seems like Presidents once out of office seem to not want to be in public life anymore. Given the drive that it takes to become President, I would expect more of them to want to continue in public service. Is the weight of being President just such a burden that one is completely exhausted? Are they worried about being seen as too much of a influence on those actually in power, that they don’t want to be seen as someone that’s wielding power from a different position? Is it just 40ish different reasons for 40ish different people? I’m aware that plenty of presidents didn’t survive their terms, and there are others who were definitely too old to go back into politics, one-term presidents might not think that they’re welcome in politics, but it seems like there were plenty of Presidents who would be reasonably good candidates to return to Congress or serve in another capacity in the executive administration. (If there have been former presidents in Cabinet positions, there’s nothing immediate that I’m aware of). ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/2 "2023-02-24T23:47:40Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > Is the weight of being President just such a burden that one is completely exhausted? Are they worried about being seen as too much of a influence on those actually in power, that they don’t want to be seen as someone that’s wielding power from a different position? My WAG is that both of those things are very common reasons. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/3 "2023-02-24T23:50:53Z")
I think it’s that once you’ve reached the highest office in the land, taking any office below that is just going to be awkward and weird, both for the ex-pres and everybody in his orbit. You’re an 800 lb. gorilla stomping through a china shop, to mix metaphors. You’re used to telling underlings how to handle the china; you’re way past handling it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/4 "2023-02-25T00:50:08Z")
People who want to be president don’t want to be Senator or governor (unless it’s a stepping stone towards being president). ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/5 "2023-02-25T00:53:29Z")
[There is more money and fun in robbing banks and surfing tasty waves.](https://youtu.be/-F50QIqh8so) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/6 "2023-02-25T01:06:09Z")
Probably for the same reason that former presidents don’t campaign viciously against successors of the opposite party. The position is unique among humanity. (Maybe being the Pope could compare.) Nobody else can understand what it’s like. No more than half a dozen other living humans have experienced that feeling. Being President is above mere politics. Adams lived in a different age when the Presidency was a high office but nowhere near godhood. You can’t compare it. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/7 "2023-02-25T01:33:00Z")
They’d rather make bank. > **[US presidents make $400,000 a year while in office, but they can make...](https://www.businessinsider.com/how-us-presidents-make-money-after-leaving-office-2020-9)** > > Obama made $400,000 a year while in office — but he and Michelle reportedly signed a book deal worth at least $60 million a year after leaving. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/8 "2023-02-25T01:39:35Z")
Do former U.S. Senators ever run for the House of Representatives? Do former state governers ever run for the state legislature? How often does _any_ powerful elected official, after they leave office, run for a lower, less powerful and prestigious position? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/9 "2023-02-25T01:43:41Z")
John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives and Andrew Johnson became a member of the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/10 "2023-02-25T01:46:38Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives and Andrew Johnson became a member of the Senate And (though technically not a political role, but certainly a public office) William Howard Taft was appointed Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, nine years after losing his presidential re-election bid. _Edit: I missed that the OP mentioned Taft. My apologies!_ ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/11 "2023-02-25T01:49:11Z")
Taft was an interesting case, as being Chief Justice was the job he had actually wanted for his entire adult life. His family more or less cajoled him into running for President. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2023, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/12 "2023-02-25T02:36:55Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives and Andrew Johnson became a member of the Senate. And John Tyler was elected to the House of Representatives - the Confederate one. He died before taking office however. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/13 "2023-02-25T15:54:24Z")
Note that Adams, Johnson, and Taft all died no later than 1930. Back then there were few sources of money for ex-presidents like writing books and giving speeches. Now it’s pretty standard, so they don’t have to worry about having little to live on. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/14 "2023-02-25T16:03:49Z")
Too tired, probably sick of politics, and don’t like the feeling of a “demotion” by holding a lower office. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/15 "2023-02-25T17:23:21Z")
An interesting thought-what if he’d gotten that job and never been President? ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/16 "2023-02-25T20:50:57Z")
After he stopped being Governor of California in 1983, Jerry Brown was elected Mayor of Oakland CA and CA Attorney General before being elected Governor again in 2011. He finally seems to be done with politics. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/17 "2023-02-25T22:56:45Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Do former U.S. Senators ever run for the House of Representatives? Do former state governers ever run for the state legislature? How often does _any_ powerful elected official, after they leave office, run for a lower, less powerful and prestigious position? Claude Pepper was a U.S. Senator from Florida from 1936 to 1951 and then a Representative for a Miami Congressional district from 1963 until 1989. Matthew M. Neely basically played ping-pong among West Virginia’s Senate seats, House seats and Governor’s mansion in the mid-20th century, which included service in the House after he had been in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2023, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/18 "2023-02-26T01:51:22Z")
So the answer to “how often” is basically 2.\* Or, virtually freaking never. \*It could be 22. Same thing out of thousands. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2023, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/19 "2023-02-26T03:35:20Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The position is unique among humanity. (Maybe being the Pope could compare.) Nobody else can understand what it’s like. No more than half a dozen other living humans have experienced that feeling That’s the thesis of this book: > **[The Presidents Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity: Gibbs, Nancy,...](https://www.amazon.ca/Presidents-Club-Inside-Exclusive-Fraternity/dp/1439127700)** > > The Presidents Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity: Gibbs, Nancy, Duffy, Michael: 9781439127704: Books - Amazon.ca Don’t know if they’ve let Donnie in. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2023, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326/20 "2023-02-26T03:54:19Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > So the answer to “how often” is basically 2.\* Or, virtually freaking never. > > \*It could be 22. Same thing out of thousands. And the answer to “Do former U.S. Senators ever run for the House of Representatives?” is yes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-former-presidents-run-for-other-public-offices-or-become-cabinet-members/980326.md?page=2)