What does the American President do after retirement? He gets fresh life, a huge pension and countless facilities.

Last Updated:January 17, 2025, 6:35 PM IST

America’s 46th President Joe Biden is about to retire. How much pension and facilities will they get now? What do retired presidents usually do in America?

America’s 46th President Joe Biden will retire after two days. What will he do after retirement? What facilities will they get? Usually, when the President of America retires, what does he spend his time on and how active is he? Do they get pension and security? Does the American government even give them houses?

We will tell you all this further, first let’s see what American President Joe Biden is planning. What has he said about this? He has expressed his intention that he will be successful on the domestic and foreign policy front. Yes, he will go to his hometown Delaware and spend time. There at the University of Delaware, he will continue his work on policy making in the institute named after him.

However, his biggest dream is to build a presidential library in Delaware. For which he will collect funds. Usually, American Presidents work on writing books and giving public speeches. Biden will also do this work. Therefore, it can be said that he will live a peaceful life at his home in his hometown and will also remain active from here.

After retirement, former US President Barack Obama is producing for films and TV shows and is also participating in lecture programs around the world. Obama has created a high quality production house with Michelle. He has been busy after leaving the post.

Former Presidents of America together (photo AP)

It is interesting to know what the American President does after retirement, how he earns money and what facilities the American government provides him.

The US President is given many special facilities and benefits after retirement. These mainly include the following:

how much pension
The retired President receives an annual pension, which is equal to the salary of a Cabinet Secretary. The annual salary of cabinet secretaries in America is $246,400 i.e. Rs 2.13 crore. This salary is less than the President’s salary, which is $400,000 annually (Rs 3.4 crore).

Office and staff
Former presidents receive government assistance for an office and staff, which covers office rent, equipment, and staff salaries. This gives them freshness.

George Bush lives in Houston. He has made an office there. Its annual expenditure is about Rs 1.5 crore. Bill Clinton lives in New York. The American government pays him about Rs 4.5 crore annually for his office.

photo AP

Security
The retired President and his wife are given lifelong Secret Service protection. Their children are given protection till the age of 16 years.

Travel expenses and medical facilities
The expenses of travel for official work are borne by the government. If a former President has availed himself of medical services at a military hospital, he is reimbursed for medical expenses.

state funeral
After the death of the former President, he is provided funeral facilities with state honours.

free ride in limousine
Apart from pension and other facilities, former US President can ride in limousine, Marine One and Air Force One.

Are they even given a house?
No, the US government does not officially provide a home to a retired president. After retirement, former presidents have to manage their personal residence themselves.

Big money from books and speeches
Do you know that the American President earns big money through books?

Earnings from Bill Clinton’s books and speeches
Bill Clinton got Rs 10 crore in advance to write his autobiography My Life. Clinton had said in an interview several years ago that he had no money when he was leaving the White House. Now he is the highest earning former President.

Till now he has earned around Rs 800 crore from his speeches across the world. He gets around Rs 80 lakh for a speech. Bill Clinton left the White House in 2001. Since then he has been living in New York. He travels all over the world. Give lectures. Writes books.

33 lakh copies of Barack Obama’s book sold
After retirement, Barack Obama made a huge advance and royalty deal for his book “A Promised Land”. In 2017, Obama and Michelle Obama signed a joint deal worth about $65 million with Penguin Random House for their autobiographies. “A Promised Land” was also included in this deal. Its 33 lakh copies were sold worldwide. Obama’s earnings from “A Promised Land” can be estimated at several million dollars.

What did this former president do?
– Richard Nixon became President in the year 1974. After just three years, he had to step down due to the Watergate scandal. Although he remained alive till 1994. Apart from memoirs, he wrote many books on politics in his retirement life.
– Gerald Ford became President in 1977. After retirement, he spent his life playing golf and skiing. He was on the board of many multinational companies of America, hence remained continuously active.
– Jimmy Carter became the President of America in 1981. His name appeared in many peace talks and mediations around the world. After retirement, he formed an organization – Habitat of Humanity. Through this, he remains active in the field of social justice along with his wife. Carter wrote 18 books. He wrote on topics ranging from memoirs to politics and faith. He even got a book of his poems published.
– Ronald Reagan stepped down from the post of US President in 1989. When he left the White House, he settled in Southern California. He wrote his autobiography. For many years he remained busy in the lecture circuit.
– George Bush left the post of President of America in 1993. After leaving the post, he continued to play an important role in diplomacy by becoming America’s ambassador to the Gulf countries. He was fond of baseball matches, so he often went to watch those matches also. Go sky diving. Along with Bill Clinton, he also runs disaster relief work around the world. When the tsunami caused devastation in India, his organization came forward to help. One of his two sons, George Jr., became the US President in 2001.