With Joe Biden’s announcement that he will not be seeking a second term as President, what will he do once he’s out of office? Regardless of how their policies are viewed, former Presidents have a unique historical perspective and immense experience to contribute. We’d like to update you on how the 5 living ex-presidents are spending their retirement and speculate on what Biden might do in his post-presidential life.

24/7 Wall St. Insights

• Former presidents and their spouses continue to receive protection from the Secret Service for life.
• Ex-presidents typically go on the speaking circuit, write books, establish a presidential library to house documents and memorabilia from their presidency, assist the campaigns of candidates of their party, and do charity work.
• Also: Discover “The Next NVIDIA”

Useful News

For this article, we consulted official websites affiliated with the former presidents as well as publicly available media accounts of how they are spending their days. This can be useful news to you in several ways:

• A reminder that in retirement we can still use our experience to be useful and do good in the world.
• We can see a more human side of our ex-presidents and not demonize quite so much the ones whose policies we disagreed with.
• Becoming aware of the charities and causes our favorite presidents support might inspire us to support them as well.

Are They Safe?

The attempted assassination of former President Trump raises great concerns about the safety of our former presidents. Presidents and their spouses receive Secret Service protection for life. Their children are also protected until they turn 16 years old. What if the couple divorces or the ex-president passes away before their spouse? Based on current guidelines, the spouse would continue to receive Secret Service protection unless they remarry.

Under these rules, Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of John F. Kennedy, would have been entitled to Secret Service protection for life had she remained single, but her marriage to Aristotle Onassis would have brought the government’s obligation to protect her to an end. As Mr. Onassis was quite wealthy, maintaining private security would not have been an issue for the couple.

Next up are each of our living ex-presidents, their current ages, and what they’ve been up to in their retirement years.

Jimmy Carter (99)

Few Presidents have been as active and made as much of a contribution as Jimmy Carter did in the years since he left office in 1980. One of his most significant projects was establishing the Carter Center to promote human rights. He traveled the world to help mediate peace negotiations, observe elections, and champion efforts to fight disease. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work. Carter also authored some 34 books on government, foreign affairs, autobiographical works, and Christian devotional and Bible study materials. A devout Southern Baptist, Carter taught a Sunday School class at his small home church in Plains, Georgia for most of his retirement before entering home hospice care in 2023. Sadly, his beloved wife Rosalynn passed away in 2023. The Carters have four children and 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren altogether.

Bill Clinton (77)

After serving two terms as president from 1993-2001, Bill Clinton continued to be an influential public figure. He has spoken at every Democratic National Convention in the 21st century as well as international forums like the 2005 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Montreal. He also headed up relief efforts for the 2004 Asian tsunami and for Hurricane Katrina along with former president George H.W. Bush in 2005. Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation to combat problems related to health, poverty, and ethno-religious conflict worldwide. Bill and Hillary Clinton’s primary home is in Chappaqua, New York but they also maintain a second home in Washington D.C. The William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, is located in Little Rock, Arkansas, the home state where Clinton served as governor. The Clintons have one daughter, Chelsea, and three grandchildren.

George W. Bush (78)

Having left the presidency in 2009 at age 62, George W. Bush still has a long retirement ahead of him. Of all our current ex-presidents, his life seems in many ways closest to the “good life” any of us would hope to enjoy when we’ve finished our careers. Bush has refrained from involvement in politics. He and his wife Laura left Washington for their ranch in Crawford, Texas, and also bought a second home in Dallas near Southern Methodist University. Bush established the George W. Bush Institute there to discuss policies related to economics, freedom, education, health, and women’s issues. But mostly George and Laura live a very down-to-earth life: biking, attending baseball games, reading, painting, and inviting friends and neighbors to barbecues. He has also written his memoirs as well as a biography of his father and has been involved in charity work to benefit cancer research and veterans’ issues.

Barack Obama (62)

Since he left office in 2017, Barack Obama has continued to live in Washington, D.C. with his wife Michelle, and the couple maintain a second home on Martha’s Vineyard. They are empty nesters now, as their daughters Malia and Sasha have moved to Los Angeles. Obama partnered with former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush in 2017 to promote disaster relief for the victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. He started the Obama Foundation to promote the causes he cares about as well as a production company called Higher Ground Productions that produced a Netflix docu-series. Obama started a podcast in 2021 with Bruce Springsteen where the two talked casually about their lives, music, and love of America. Obama has written several books. His presidential library is in Chicago.

Donald Trump (78)

It’s not accurate to say that Donald Trump has “retired” from the presidency, as he has remained intensely politically active and is currently campaigning for a second term. After his first term expired in January 2021, Trump and his family relocated to Mar-A-Lago, their Palm Beach, Florida resort. The past 4 years have kept him constantly in the news as various legal cases related to his presidency and real estate business have played out. When banned from Twitter, Trump started Truth Social as an alternative to continue to get his perspective into the public eye.

For fun, Donald Trump loves watching t.v. news, reading newspapers, phoning friends, and spending time with family (he has 5 children and 10 grandchildren) Golf is one of his biggest passions. And he’s also been known to drop in on wedding receptions and other events at his club to say a few words of congratulation and pose with fans for photos. All in all, it’s not the typical life of a regular retiree, but it’s very much like the life he lived before the presidency. And that’s another reason to say that Donald Trump is by no means “retired.”

Joe Biden (81)

Joe Biden is still the President of the United States until January 20, 2025. What can we expect his life to be like, post-presidency? He and his wife Jill have a main home in Greenville, Delaware, which is a suburb of Wilmington. It’s a short flight or a 2-hour car ride to Washington, D.C., so it’s entirely possible he will continue to make trips to the capital to participate in policy discussions and Democratic Party functions. Like the other former presidents, he’s likely to get the ball rolling to establish a presidential library, which he’s considered putting at the University of Delaware, Syracuse University, or in Washington D.C. He will likely work on his memoirs for publication. And we can expect that he and Jill will be involved at some level in charitable work. The Bidens have 4 adult children and 7 grandchildren, so no doubt time spent with them will be the happiest part of their retirement years.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.