Editing President of the United States (section)

== Post-presidency ==
[[File:Five Presidents Oval Office.jpg|thumb|From left to right: Presidents [[George H. W. Bush]], [[Barack Obama]], [[George W. Bush]], [[Bill Clinton]], and [[Jimmy Carter]] in the [[Oval Office]] on January 7, 2009; Obama took office thirteen days later.]]

=== Activities ===
Some former presidents have had significant careers after leaving office. Prominent examples include [[William Howard Taft]]'s tenure as [[chief justice of the United States]] and [[Herbert Hoover]]'s work on government reorganization after [[World War II]]. [[Grover Cleveland]], whose bid for reelection failed in [[1888 United States presidential election|1888]], was elected president again four years later in [[1892 United States presidential election|1892]], and [[Donald Trump]], whose bid for reelection failed in [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]], was elected president again four years later in [[2024 United States presidential election|2024]]. Two former presidents served in Congress after leaving the White House: [[John Quincy Adams]] was elected to the House of Representatives, serving there for 17 years, and [[Andrew Johnson]] returned to the Senate in 1875, though he died soon after. Some ex-presidents were very active, especially in international affairs, most notably Theodore Roosevelt;<ref>Edmund Morris, ''Colonel Roosevelt'' (2011)</ref> Herbert Hoover;<ref>Gary Dean Best, ''The Life of Herbert Hoover: Keeper of the Torch, 1933–1964'' (2013)</ref> Richard Nixon;<ref>Kasey S. Pipes, ''After the Fall: The Remarkable Comeback of Richard Nixon'' (2019)</ref> and Jimmy Carter.<ref>Douglas Brinkley. ''The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House'' (1998).</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = John Whiteclay | first1 = Chambers II | year = 1979 | title = Presidents Emeritus | journal = American Heritage | volume = 30 | issue = 4| pages = 16–25 }}</ref>

Presidents may use their predecessors as emissaries to deliver private messages to other nations or as official representatives of the United States to state funerals and other important foreign events.<ref name="apreaction19810331">{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TE4tAAAAIBAJ&dq=reagan%20assassination%201981&pg=1392%2C4423618 |title=Shock and Anger Flash Throughout the United States |date=March 31, 1981 |access-date=March 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906144021/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TE4tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bM4FAAAAIBAJ&dq=reagan%20assassination%201981&pg=1392%2C4423618 |archive-date=September 6, 2015 |agency=Associated Press }}</ref><ref name="4presidentsphotos">{{Cite web |url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/four.html |title=Four Presidents |publisher=Reagan Presidential Library, National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=April 3, 2011 |archive-date=May 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512020542/http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/four.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Richard Nixon made multiple foreign trips to countries including China and Russia and was lauded as an elder statesman.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/1600/presidents/richardnixon |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |title=Biography of Richard M. Nixon |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |date=December 30, 2014 }}, The White House.</ref> [[Jimmy Carter]] became a global [[human rights]] campaigner, international arbiter, and election monitor, as well as a recipient of the [[Nobel Peace Prize]]. Bill Clinton also worked as an informal ambassador, most recently in the negotiations that led to the release of two American [[journalist]]s, [[Laura Ling]] and [[Euna Lee]], from [[North Korea]]. During his presidency, George W. Bush called on former presidents George H. W. Bush and Clinton to assist with humanitarian efforts after the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami]]. President Obama followed suit by asking presidents Clinton and George W. Bush to lead efforts to aid Haiti after an [[2010 Haiti earthquake|earthquake]] devastated that country in 2010.

Clinton has been active politically since his presidential term ended, working with his wife [[Hillary Clinton|Hillary]] on her [[Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign|2008]] and [[Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign|2016]] presidential bids and President Obama on his [[Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign|2012 reelection campaign]]. Obama has also been active politically since his presidential term ended, having worked with his former vice president [[Joe Biden]] on his [[Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign|2020 election campaign]]. After losing his bid for the presidency in 2020, Trump remained politically active and was an outspoken critic of his successor and the Democratic Party. Trump announced his fourth bid to the presidency in 2022, ultimately becoming the nominee of his party for the third time and won a second presidential term in 2024.

=== Pension and other benefits ===
The [[Former Presidents Act]] (FPA), enacted in 1958, grants lifetime benefits to former presidents and their widows, including a monthly pension, medical care in military facilities, health insurance, and Secret Service protection; also provided is funding for a certain number of staff and for office expenses.  The act has been amended several times to provide increases in presidential pensions and in the allowances for office staff.  The FPA excludes any president who was removed from office by [[Federal impeachment in the United States|impeachment]].<ref name="CRS">{{cite web |author1=Stephanie Smith |title=Federal Pension and Retirement Benefits |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/98-249.pdf |website=Federation of American Scientists |publisher=Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress |access-date=November 10, 2020 |date=March 18, 2008 |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107170308/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/98-249.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to a 2008 report by the [[Congressional Research Service]]:<ref name="CRS" />

<blockquote>Chief executives leaving office prior to 1958 often entered retirement pursuing various occupations and received no federal assistance. When industrialist Andrew Carnegie announced a plan in 1912 to offer $25,000 annual pensions to former Presidents, many Members of Congress deemed it inappropriate that such a pension would be provided by a private corporation executive. That same year, legislation was first introduced to create presidential pensions, but it was not enacted. In 1955, such legislation was considered by Congress because of former President Harry S. Truman's financial limitations in hiring an office staff</blockquote>

The pension has increased numerous times with congressional approval. Retired presidents receive a pension based on the salary of the current administration's cabinet secretaries, which was $199,700 per year in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS20115.pdf |title=President of the United States: Compensation |last=Schwemle |first=Barbara L. |date=October 17, 2012 |publisher=Congressional Research Service |access-date=January 10, 2013}}</ref> Former presidents who served in Congress may also collect [[congressional pension]]s.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2007/01/07/Former-presidents-cost-U-S-taxpayers-big-bucks-tab-from-1977-to-2000-is-pegged-at-370-million.html |title=Former presidents cost U.S. taxpayers big bucks |date=January 7, 2007 |website=[[The Blade (Toledo)|Toledo Blade]] |access-date=May 22, 2007}}</ref> The act also provides former presidents with travel funds and [[franking]] privileges.

Prior to 1997, all former presidents, their spouses, and their children until age 16 were protected by the Secret Service until the president's death.<ref>{{usc|18|3056}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-signs-bill-granting-lifetime-secret-service-protection-to-former-presidents-and-spouses/2013/01/10/c4474416-5b5a-11e2-b8b2-0d18a64c8dfa_story.html |title=Obama signs bill granting lifetime Secret Service protection to former presidents and spouses |date=January 10, 2013 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=January 10, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823000643/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-signs-bill-granting-lifetime-secret-service-protection-to-former-presidents-and-spouses/2013/01/10/c4474416-5b5a-11e2-b8b2-0d18a64c8dfa_story.html |archive-date=August 23, 2016 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> In 1997, Congress passed legislation limiting Secret Service protection to no more than 10 years from the date a president leaves office.<ref name="secretservice.gov">{{Cite web |url=https://www.secretservice.gov/protection/ |title=United States Secret Service: Protection |publisher=United States Secret Service |access-date=November 9, 2017}}</ref> On January 10, 2013, President Obama signed legislation reinstating lifetime Secret Service protection for him, [[George W. Bush]], and all subsequent presidents.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/10/inside-politics-obama-signs-protection-bill-for-fo/?page=all |title=Obama signs protection bill for former presidents |date=January 10, 2013 |work=The Washington Times |access-date=August 14, 2013}}</ref> A [[First Spouse of the United States|first spouse]] who remarries is no longer eligible for Secret Service protection.<ref name="secretservice.gov" />

=== Presidential libraries ===
{{Main|Presidential library system}}
[[File:George W. Bush Presidential Center dedication.tif|alt=|thumb|From left to right: Presidents [[Barack Obama]], [[George W. Bush]], [[Bill Clinton]], [[George H. W. Bush]], and [[Jimmy Carter]] at the dedication of the [[George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum]] in [[Dallas]] in 2013]]
Every president since [[Herbert Hoover]] has created a [[Institutional repository|repository]] known as a [[Presidential library system|presidential library]] for preserving and making available his papers, records, and other documents and materials. Completed libraries are deeded to and maintained by the [[National Archives and Records Administration]] (NARA); the initial funding for building and equipping each library must come from private, non-federal sources.<ref>{{usc|44|2112}}</ref> There are currently thirteen presidential libraries in the NARA system. There are also presidential libraries maintained by state governments and private foundations and Universities of Higher Education, including:
* The [[Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum]], which is run by the State of [[Illinois]]; 
* The [[George W. Bush Presidential Center|George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum]], which is run by [[Southern Methodist University]]; 
* The [[George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum|George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum]], which is run by [[Texas A&M University]]; and
* The [[Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum|Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum]], which is run by the [[University of Texas at Austin]].

Several former presidents have overseen the building and opening of their own presidential libraries. Some even made arrangements for their own burial at the site. Several presidential libraries contain the graves of the president they document: 
* The [[Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum]] in [[Independence, Missouri]]; 
* The [[Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home]] in [[Abilene, Kansas]]; 
* The [[Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum]] in [[Yorba Linda, California]]; and 
* The [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum]] in [[Simi Valley, California]]. 
These gravesites are open to the general public.