The U.S. president has an important job. Presidents control America’s military. They enforce laws. They meet with other top leaders. Then, one day, their job ends.
This happened when George Washington left office in 1797. It happened for Donald Trump on Wednesday. But... what does a president do after he or she steps down?
“There is no set path for presidents to follow after they leave office,” said Louis Picone. He is a presidential historian. Picone said there are “commonalities of the surviving presidents.” Those include Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Each “focused on their presidential library.” They all “lent their
for good causes.” And each has “written a
.”
Earlier presidents followed different paths. Some even found their way back into government! That happened with John Quincy Adams. He won a seat in the House of Representatives! “Adams reinvented himself,” said presidential historian Mike Purdy. “He served as a congressman from Massachusetts for 17 years,” Purdy explained. And Adams worked “against slavery.”
President William Taft also rejoined America’s government after leaving office. He became a Supreme Court justice in 1921! Taft served as a justice until 1930. “I don’t remember that I was ever President,” he later wrote. Taft is the only president to join the Supreme Court.
Many experts believe Jimmy Carter was not one of America’s best presidents. Yet many experts believe he was the country’s best former president. “Carter has set the model for ,” said Lindsay Chervinsky. She is also a presidential historian. Carter has helped work toward world peace. He has helped to build houses for those in need. He taught near his home in Plains, Georgia. Carter even won the Nobel Peace Prize.
And how about Trump? “I think he will set up some sort of media platform,” said Chervinsky. That could be a website or TV channel.
Trump may run for president again. Only one person became president again after leaving office. That was Grover Cleveland.
Purdy said of Trump: “It will be interesting to watch what he does.”
Updated January 22, 2021, 5:01 P.M.(ET)
By Russell Kahn (Russ)
