WASHINGTON-
US President Joe Biden is about to have a lot more free time. You need look no further than past presidents for ideas on what to put on your retirement to-do list.
At 82, Biden is the oldest American president. In a recent interview with USA Today, he acknowledged the uncertainty about his future stamina, saying, “Who knows what I’ll be when I’m 86?”
But his age is not notable for former presidents, nine of whom lived to be over 90. Among them are George HW Bush, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, John Adams, Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter, who recently died at age 100.
A look at some traditional ways, as well as some decidedly less conventional ones, in which Biden could spend his next few years:
He tries to reinforce his place in history.
Unlike his presidential predecessor-turned-successor, Donald Trump, Biden will almost certainly not attempt a political comeback.
The Democrat has said little publicly about his post-Oval Office plans. Those who have known him for a long time say it is not something he has talked about much beyond a small circle of close collaborators.
Some modern former presidents have commanded large fees for their post-White House speeches. Biden, who was plagued by low approval ratings for most of his term, could use those appearances to try to bolster his legacy and future popularity. He told USA Today that he wanted his legacy to have worked “to restore the economy and reestablish America’s leadership in the world.”
The good news for Biden is that presidents typically see their popularity improve after leaving office.
Republican George W. Bush was unpopular at the end of his term amid the Iraq war and the financial crisis. But he was seen better in the following years, despite maintaining a low public profile while dedicating himself to painting. Trump was also dogged by low approval ratings during his first term, but regained the White House in November.
Fundraising and plan for a presidential library
A priority for Biden is likely to be raising funds and starting work on plans for his presidential library. It would likely be in Biden’s home state of Delaware, where he was a senator for 36 years and spent many weekends while president.
Officials have already recruited at least one Biden administration ambassador to help with fundraising. One model may be the Barack Obama Presidential Center, a 19.3-acre (0.08 square kilometer) library and museum in Chicago. Work began three years ago and is expected to be completed in 2026.
Sort Memories Carefully
Biden may be something of a pack rat, his aides say, and he may want to preserve mementos from his years in the White House. You need to proceed with caution.
Elected federal officials must relinquish official documents and classified materials when they leave office. Biden’s personal lawyers have been working on careful document management even before classified material from Biden’s time in the US Senate and as vice president was found at the Penn Biden Center in Washington and in Biden’s garage. in Delaware.
Those discoveries followed a 2022 FBI search of Trump’s Florida club, part of a documents case that was dropped after he took back the White House. In the Biden case, special counsel Robert Hur later released a report challenging the president’s age and mental competency but did not seek criminal charges for mishandled documents.
“We will certainly do everything we can to be careful to follow the rules and do this the right way,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked Friday about the document withholding. .
Write another memoir, also carefully
Biden has not expressed much interest, those close to him say, in writing another book. He has written two memoirs, “Promises to Keep,” published in 2007, and “Promise Me, Dad,” published in 2017.
However, he could eventually choose to work on a third party to help cement his aforementioned legacy. Once again, he would have to proceed with caution.
Hur accused Biden of being careless in sharing classified information with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, who worked on Biden’s first two books. The special counsel considered charging Zwonitzer with obstruction of justice because the ghostwriter destroyed recordings of interviews he conducted with Biden while they were working on his second memoir.
Ultimately, Hur’s report said Zwonitzer offered “innocent and plausible reasons” for doing so and subsequently cooperated with investigators.
Delight yourself with the former president’s club
Biden, a longtime enthusiast of political tradition, could well accept membership in the former presidents’ club. Former commanders in chief occasionally pose for photographs and pat each other on the back while attending historic events and sitting together at VIP funerals.
Former presidents also sometimes take on special projects together, such as promoting vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic or raising money after natural disasters. They rarely criticize each other and tend to offer even fewer harsh words about the current occupants of the White House.
This will be a chance for Biden to again differentiate himself from Trump, who showed little interest in spending time with former presidents after losing his 2020 re-election bid. That was similar to how he rejected typical post-presidency endeavors, such as working on building a presidential library, and focused on his 2024 campaign.
Biden already convened his own sort of former presidents’ club while he was still in office: He prepared for his State of the Union address last March by holding a video call with actors who had previously played presidents.
Morgan Freeman, Tony Goldwyn, Geena Davis and Michael Douglas offered advice and encouragement, as did Bill Pullman, who played President Thomas J. Whitmore in “Independence Day.” Pullman took advantage of Biden’s ever-present optimism in his public comments to predict: “People, when they see everything you’ve accomplished, they’ll remember it. Time will always remember your words.”
Try your luck in show business?
Speaking of celebrities, Biden has floated the idea of more splashy post-presidential activities.
In August, about a month after abandoning his re-election campaign, Biden joked at an event for online content creators: “That’s why I invited you to the White House, because I’m looking for a job.”
When Jessica Alba helped celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at the White House a few weeks later, Biden joked that he might soon need the star’s business connections to find work, saying, “Jessica, if I’m really good, maybe you can get me.” A job?
He offered a similar joke at a December event for Kennedy Center honorees, telling Robert De Niro, “If I get in trouble, I’ll come to you, buddy.”
“I’m looking for a job in February,” Biden said with a laugh. “Maybe you have something for me? A Biden-De Niro combination? “I can’t sing, I can’t act, I can’t dance, I can’t do anything, but I could help you.”
