A Brief History
On July 11, 1921, Former President William Howard Taft was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, becoming the only person to ever serve as President and Supreme Court Justice. Most Ex-Presidents do not have quite the spectacular second career, but we list 10 Presidents who went on to interesting activities after leaving office.
Update, July 11, 2019: In July of 2019, cable news giant CNN reported that former Vice President and current candidate for the Democratic nomination for President, Joe Biden, along with his wife earned a whopping $16 million in the 2+ years since he left office, mainly through speaking engagements and profits from books. In recent years former Presidents, Vice Presidents, and presidential candidates have made tons of money on the speaking tour and by writing or co-writing books, usually memoirs or statements about political theories and goals. Many Presidents, including Donald Trump, authored or co-authored books prior to becoming President.
Digging Deeper
1. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, William Howard Taft.
Serving as Theodore Roosevelt’s Vice President and then a term as President would seem like a fine way to end a political career, but Taft of Ohio took it a giant step forward by donning the robes of the Supreme Court. Taft had won the 1908 Presidential race, but in 1912 when Teddy Roosevelt decided to run as a third party candidate, the Republican vote was split and Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected. Between being President and sitting on the Supreme Court, Taft worked as a college professor at Yale. The 10th Chief Justice, Taft retired from the Court in 1930 due to ill health. He died only a month later.
2. Professor, Author, Peace Activist, Campaign against Diseases, Habitat for Humanity and Nobel Prize Winner, James Earl “Jimmy” Carter.
After serving 1 term from 1977 to 1981, Carter left office at the age of 56, with plenty of time to find something to do with himself. Carter lectured at Emory University and worked tirelessly for Habitat for Humanity. He has been a world travelling emissary of Peace and Good Will, and has been a witness/monitor to elections in other countries. Carter has also campaigned mightily to eradicate various diseases, especially in Third World countries, and in 2012 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Having lived longer than any other President after leaving office, Carter has put those years to good use. He is currently (2017) 92 years old. In 2003, Carter penned a work of fiction called The Hornet’s Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War.
3. Safari Bwana, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt.
After keeping his promise not to run for President in 1908, TR led a year-long African Safari for the Smithsonian Institution and The American Museum of Natural History (New York). The self-described Bull Moose killed and collected about 11,400 animals and insects to be returned to the US for scientific purposes and display, including 512 big game animals. Teddy told the tale of his adventure in Africa in his book, African Game Trails. After his African trip, TR visited many of the Crowned Heads (and others) of Europe and returned to the US to re-enter politics. Roosevelt ran for President again in 1912, and was shot in the chest prior to delivering a speech at a campaign event. Incredibly, the tough guy went ahead with his speech, speaking for 90 minutes until he was done, and only then seeking medical attention! TR lost the 1912 election, but mounted a South American scientific expedition in 1913-1914. On the South American trip Roosevelt injured his leg and became seriously ill with a tropical fever. After returning to the US and recovering physically, Teddy lectured on the exploration and findings of his latest expedition. TR then re-entered the political arena, and tried to maneuver another nomination to run for President again in 1916 (which failed). TR was a harsh critic of Germany and her allies during World War I and preached against Irish-Americans and German-Americans having anti-British/French views. Roosevelt was awarded the Medal of Honor (posthumously) by President Clinton and his likeness appears on Mount Rushmore along with Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. The “Lion” died at age 60, his health ruined by his many injuries and illnesses throughout his exciting life.
4. Speaker, Author, Philanthropist, Campaigner, Explainer-in-Chief, William J. “Bill” Clinton.
Slick Willie cannot stay out of the limelight, and is said to have been on a permanent campaign ever since leaving office. Making millions of dollars through speaking engagements and writing, Clinton had been a mainstay of the Democratic Party touting their agenda and campaigning for Democratic candidates, including his wife, Hillary, who ran for President in 2008 and 2016. Clinton has also been an enthusiastic philanthropist and founded the William J. Clinton Foundation for charitable works. He has worked for Tsunami relief (with George HW Bush) and other humanitarian causes. Clinton has also become the grandfather of 2 children since leaving office.
Update, July 11, 2019: In 2018 the former President co-authored a novel with mystery/thrill novelist James Patterson, titled The President is Missing.
5. Author, Government Critic, Humanitarian, Presidential Adviser, Herbert Hoover.
Hoover served as President from 1929 at the end of the Roaring ‘20’s until 1933 when the US was mired in the Great Depression, making his re-election in 1932 virtually impossible. Bitter about losing the 1932 Presidential election, Hoover wrote many books and made many comments in criticism of President Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal. Once World War II began, Hoover was critical of efforts to help the Allies, including Lend-Lease, but once the US joined the War he campaigned for humanitarian relief in German occupied countries. After World War II Hoover became an adviser to President Truman and toured Europe, offering advice on rebuilding democratic society there. President Eisenhower also employed Hoover as an adviser on restructuring the government. Hoover was also involved in various academic support programs and in other civic projects. Hoover died in 1964 at the age of 90, the only President to ever have written a biography of another President (Wilson).
6. Farmer, Distiller of Whiskey, General, George Washington.
When Washington declined to run for a third term and left office in 1797, he returned to plantation life and attended to his business, including starting a whiskey producing distillery that would become the largest in the United States. When relations with France declined to a perilous point in 1798, President Adams appointed George Washington as a Lieutenant General and Commander in Chief of the US Army, a post he held until his death in December of 1799 at the age of 67.
7. Congressman, Abolitionist, John Q. Adams.
After serving as President from 1825 to 1829, Adams lost his bid for reelection in 1828, but he did not leave politics. JQ went on to serve as a US Representative from Massachusetts from 1831 to 1848, dying of a cerebral hemorrhage he suffered on the floor of the House of Representatives. While in the White House and in Congress, Adams was a supporter of science and education, and was a proponent of the Smithsonian Institution. He was also staunchly anti-slavery.
8. Senator, Andrew Johnson.
After serving as Lincoln’s Vice President in 1865, Johnson assumed the Presidency when Lincoln was assassinated. His time in office was marred by severe disagreement with how to handle the Post-War South, and Johnson became the first President to be impeached, though he was acquitted. Once Johnson finished his term as President in 1869, he moved back to Tennessee to his farm, but soon entered the political arena again. Finding himself awkwardly positioned between Republicans and Democrats due to his Civil War ties to Lincoln, Johnson failed at attempts to gain a seat in the US Senate and US House of Representatives, before he was elected to serve as Senator from Tennessee in 1875, though he died just a few months after taking office. He remains the only former President to serve in the Senate.
9. Pariah, Author, Elder Statesman, Richard M. Nixon.
After being forced to resign in 1974 under the threat of certain impeachment and almost certain conviction, Nixon was pardoned by President Gerald Ford, but for the next few years remained persona non grata at political and government functions. Desperately short of money, Nixon sat for several televised interviews with David Frost, an enormous television success that paid Nixon $600,000 sorely needed dollars. By 1978 he had become somewhat rehabilitated and took on the mantle of “elder statesman,” including a White House invitation from President Carter to meet with Chinese Leader Deng Xiaoping. Nixon supported Ronald Reagan for President in 1980, and embarked on speaking tours and writing 10 books. Nixon joined fellow former Presidents Carter and Ford as US representatives to the funeral of assassinated Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat and travelled to the Soviet Union in 1986 to meet with Soviet leader Gorbachev, reporting his impressions of the Russian back to President Reagan. Nixon died in 1994 at the age of 81, somehow, miraculously perhaps, back into the mainstream of American politics.
10. Lawyer, Fisherman, President, Grover Cleveland.
Cleveland served as our 22nd President from 1885 to 1889, but had lost the 1888 Presidential election to Benjamin Harrison. Old Grover went to work at a law firm and took up an avid fishing hobby, but returned to the fray in 1892 and was again elected President, becoming our 24th President, the only person to ever hold that office twice in non-consecutive terms. After his second turn in the White House, Cleveland acted as a trustee for Princeton University, and was courted to run for the US Senate, but ill health precluded such a run. In 1905 Grover authored an article in which he spoke against women’s suffrage. Cleveland was consulted by Theodore Roosevelt, and died in 1908 at the age of 71.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Weeks, Philip. Buckeye Presidents: Ohioans in the White House. The Kent State University Press, 2003.