Rules Former US Presidents Have To Follow After They Leave Office
Before the Former Presidents Act was passed by Congress in 1958, America’s ex-presidents were largely on their own when they got out of office. George Washington enjoyed a lucrative career distilling whiskey at his Mount Vernon estate, Williams Howard Taft was appointed to the Supreme Court and Theodore Roosevelt turned to nonfiction writing, just to name a few.
But the sailing wasn’t always smooth for the nation’s most powerful politicians after they left the White House. Harry Truman was nearly broke after leaving office, living on his modest military pension from his service during World War I, partly as a result of his desire not to “commercialize” his former office by cashing in on the many job offers he was given. The Former Presidents Act was passed partly as a result of Truman’s financial struggles.
As a result of that law, which the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower helped champion, former commanders in chief were given a lifetime pension of $25,000 a year, which equals about $225,000 today when adjusted for inflation. The pension is equal to the salary of an Executive Level I employee, which was $219,200 as of fiscal year 2020.
Even former presidents who resigned from office, such as Richard Nixon, are eligible for the pension. Those who are removed from office via impeachment are not eligible for the fund, which is covered by taxpayers.
Even if someone isn’t president anymore, they can still be a high-profile target for attackers. One of the most important perks provided by the Former Presidents Act is lifelong protection by the Secret Service. In addition to covering the ex-president and their spouse, the protective detail also extends to their children until age 16. This perk is available completely at the discretion of the former presidents themselves, as Richard Nixon dismissed his Secret Service protection about 11 years after he left office.
If you love driving on the open road, you should probably never even consider running for president. While in office, the commander in chief rides in a motorcade and in heavily armored vehicles any time they are on public roads, but the restrictions continue even into retirement. Former presidents — and even vice presidents — who make use of their permanent Secret Service detail are not allowed to drive on public roads and instead rely on Secret Service agents who are trained in evasive driving maneuvers.
In 2017, George W. Bush revealed that he hadn’t driven on a public road in nearly 25 years.
When you are the president of the United States, you have access to the confidential information gathered by the nation’s intelligence services. As a courtesy, former commanders in chief are still given access to daily security briefings when they leave office — under one condition. Whether or not a former president will be allowed to receive the briefings, which include confidential information about situations both domestic and foreign, is completely up to the sitting president.
This pesky rule is part of the Presidential Records Act of 1978, passed in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Every piece of official communication that comes from the president during their time in office must be kept, archived and made available to the public five years after their administration ends. Since 2014, this law has included all electronic communications related to official business as well, which is why private email accounts are a no-no for presidents when they are discussing business.
Believe it or not, former presidents don’t automatically qualify for lifetime government health insurance. That benefit is only afforded to those who have spent at least five years as a federal employee. This means that one-term presidents who had no other experience in the federal government will be paying for their own healthcare once they leave office. This will be the case for Donald Trump.
In case you hadn’t noticed, privacy is a thing of the past for both current and former presidents. Jonathan Wackrow, a former Secret Service agent told NBC News that having a Secret Service detail is “the most intrusive thing that anyone could ever experience.” To put it into context, Wackrow said to imagine you’re “at your home tonight and four strangers just show up and they’re standing around in your kitchen.”
As we mentioned before, an ex-president can refuse his lifelong security detail and therefore earn back some privacy, but there would be considerable risk.
Given how difficult the job is, it’s unlikely that any former president would want to run for the office again but, in case they did, there’s a constitutional amendment against it. After then-President Franklin Roosevelt won the election in 1940 for an unprecedented third term in office — followed by his win for a fourth term in 1944 — the 22nd Amendment was ratified to keep any president from serving more than two terms.
This rule obviously doesn’t apply to presidents who serve only one term, meaning Donald Trump could run again in 2024 if he wishes.
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