I'm taking my ball and going home...

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

This will be my last political campaign no matter what, I've got nothing else to run for.
--President Obama, at a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Does this strike anyone else as both a shame and somewhat, I don't know, lacking in moxie? Barack Obama is 50 years old. He is a man in the prime of his life. It seems a shame that he should simply fade into the background of American life if his presidency should end next January. Nothing else to run for?! That implies that, should he lose, that's it, game over. Wouldn't those who would vote for Barack Obama want him to carry on the fight? Wouldn't they want him to advocate for his policies and continue to push forward to whatever bright, noble future he has in mind?

I felt the same way about Bill Clinton. He seems now like a slightly comic, even pathetic figure. Why couldn't he have run for the House, a la John Q. Adams? He would have made a formidable legislator. Andrew Johnson continued to run for office after his term, eventually becoming a Tennessee Senator. William Howard Taft famously fulfilled his life long ambition to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Even John Tyler, to his eternal discredit, did not shrink from joining the Confederate Congress, although he mercifully died before he could bring more shame on his memory. What is it about our culture today that circumscribes a president from taking anything other than the most anodyne of jobs after their time in office? I think they should show a little more gumption.

Comments

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

Or it just means that after he's out of office Obama would rather teach, dedicate his time a charitable organizations or something else worth while. Like what Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have been doing.

[squidb0i.livejournal.com]

This. Assuming game over is beyond short sighted.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

There is a great deal of community organizing that a former president could accomplish.

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

I suspect he will be a more or less full-time writer. He has more than a bit of art and poetry in his soul. He'll probably spend the first few years writiing his presidential memoirs - really writing them, no ghost writer.

[chron-job.livejournal.com]

In the modern era, presidents rarely hold any political office after presidency. Carter, and Clinton have continued their advocacy of pet issues in private life. I expect Obama would do the same. If there is anything distinctly odd about not wanting to run for any office after being President, did the same feeling of oddness come to you for Bush II, Bush I, Reagan, Ford, Eisenhower, or Truman?

[telemann.livejournal.com]

What Jimmy Carter has done for Habitat for Humanity is great example of being a remarkable citizen after leaving office.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Bush II left under such a cloud that I doubt he'd be a very effective candidate, but if he had had a more popular presidency I'd feel the same way. Bush I, Reagan, Ford, Ike and Truman were all much older men with much longer and more distinguished careers behind them. Actual retirement made sense for them.

[mylaptopisevil.livejournal.com]

Just because it's someone's last political campaign doesn't mean it is the end of them doing what they want to do in terms of promoting good governance and social justice.

It just means it's his last political campaign.

I'm also wondering if there were ever any presidents in the last few decades that then decided to run for senate, house, dog catcher, etc.

I felt the same way about Bill Clinton. He seems now like a slightly comic, even pathetic figure

Not counting his other stuff like speaking engagements, and promoting political actions he supports like healthcare reform, Clinton has a foundation that pulled in $300,000,000+ in 2010 (the 2011 financial statement isn't available on the site). I'm wondering how this makes his career post-presidency pathetic.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

were ever any presidents in the last few decades that then decided to run for senate

No, there haven't been, and I think that is a shame. I think it would be salutatory for the country to see a former president return to the legislature or to some other state office and still be an effective leader.

I'm not saying Clinton has been sitting on his ass doing nothing, just what he's been doing seems very safe, sort of a prevent defense for his legacy. I would have liked to see him really go for it. He could have and still had time to do all the other stuff.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

I felt the same way about Bill Clinton. He seems now like a slightly comic, even pathetic figure

Really? Despite all the great things he's done with Clinton Global Initiative (e.g. to get businesses to invest in 3rd world countries, or his efforts to get drug companies to provide anti-malaria drugs at significant cost reductions to poorer countries, or HIV / AIDs prevention, foundation). Or what he did with President Bush Sr for humanitarian efforts for tsunami damage in 2010. Or opening a center for civility in American politics, with President Bush? Yeah, clearly he's been sitting on his ass.

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

Maybe he forgot when Clinton went to get those NK hostages in person, booyah!

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

Chief Justice is not an elective office, and Johnson is not exactly an exemplary figure. People often chill after climbing a very large mountain. In fact, we often criticize people such as championship athletes for not going out while they were on top. I know I would find it hard to be a stringer answering to an editor after having paid my dues and graduated to what I do now.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Chief Justice is not an elective office

No, but it is a very consequential office.

Johnson is not exactly an exemplary figure

That is true, but my point is more about the ambition, the drive to see things you believe in accomplished than the specific policies. I mean, I am not an Obama supporter. I would likely oppose almost all of his policies. But I still think he should be able to get out there and push for them.

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

Yes, like all those other Presidents that stay politicians after office... oh wait.

[thehonorableryu.livejournal.com]

What former U.S. presidents campaigned for another major office after their presidency? According to this list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_United_States_presidents_who_ran_for_office_after_leaving_the_presidency), you mentioned them all already (not including comebacks to the presidency), and the latest example occurred in 1921.

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What is it about our culture today that circumscribes a president from taking anything other than the most anodyne of jobs after their time in office?

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I don't know, but apparently it's not unique to President Obama. Like others have mentioned, former presidents have gone on speaking, writing and promoting through other channels than political office. I think it's just fine for a president to gracefully bow out of the limelight.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. If he'd said he was being an active politician post-Presidency this'd be a sign of his aggressive radicalism not respecting principles of law like term limits. If he doesn't run again for anything he's a coward and a lazy quitter who's no respect for his job.

[a-new-machine.livejournal.com]

Also, he'd be using the presidency as a cynical ploy to get a REALLY cushy long-term incumbent job in the Senate or something (as though he didn't already give up an incumbent seat...).

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

What did you have in mind for former Presidents?

[kayjayuu.livejournal.com]

Okay, sorry, but I'm bucking the trend and saying "yay!"

[oportet.livejournal.com]

Look at the before and after pictures, for any president. They're awful, at best (especially Bill's).

Not that I feel sorry for any of them, but I understand wanting to disappear, slowly work on a book, maybe go out and cut the ribbon at some library or freeway with their name on it once a decade.

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

Completely agree with this. Think about how much more that Presidents over the past fifty or even one hundred years have had to deal with in comparison to the ones before them.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

Unless you think being the president is easy, I think letting the man relax is warranted.

He did kill Osama Bin Laden.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

A better way to put it is that he had the guy rubbed out.

[musicpsych.livejournal.com]

I think he should move to Kenya for a while, just to troll Republicans. :) Maybe fund the creation of a Muslim community center named after Sarah Palin. That should keep Fox News busy...

I'd be surprised if his primary activity after he is out of office isn't public speaking in some capacity. That seems to be one of his signature strengths, and I could see him having a long career doing just that. He likely has more flexibility, more opportunity to make money, and even more influence if he's not restricted by being in a political office.

I'm not directing this toward Obama, but I think in general, it's also partly an ego thing to not run for a "lower" office once you've been President.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

That reminds me of an image:

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

If it were me, I'd go for President of a major University... or TV game show host.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

I like the game show host idea. How about, "Who wants to be a terrorist?"

[dwer.livejournal.com]

He's president of the united states. He doesn't need "moxie".

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

If anybody needs moxie, it is the President of the United States.

[root-fu.livejournal.com]

He'll probably change his name & go into hiding.

To escape the people with pitchforks who'll come after him once they realize how badly they've been screwed with stimulus, the deficit, obamacare and taxes.

=:D

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

At worst, he will fear being knifed by Nately's whore.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

Being in politics is a tough job, it's not hard to see why some people would rather move on to something else after a while.

Furthermore, stepping down from office reinforces the fact that the President is supposed to be a citizen, not some god-ordained monarch.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

"This will be FAR FROM my last political campaign I've got SO MUCH else to run for.
--President Obama, at a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

He is a man in the prime of his life.

Well, that's nice to read. I wonder how bad my arthritis will be when I am 50?

When was the last president to do so? Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Ford, Regan, and Bush all seem to be similar in that respect.

[soliloquy76.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it seems to be the norm now that ex-presidents bow out of the spotlight so they don't overshadow the sitting president. They mainly stick to the public speaking circuit, maybe write a book, doing little or no media spots.

[korean-guy-01.livejournal.com]

Accommodations will be made so he can be Secretary General of the UN or President of the European Union.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Huh?

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Clinton Global Initiatives are probably doing way more good than Bill in the House would be.

An ex president in the house would be a distraction to any president who came after (and a negative distraction for any president from the same party). Ex US Presidents have a unique position of influence outside of politics and that's where they would be better putting their time. One of the glories of the fixed term is that a president who is good enough in their first term to get re-elected can do in their second term things that are electorally unpopular.