just because you were once the
commander-in-chief that doesn't mean you
can now
do whatever you want from driving cars
to using cell phones
these are the rules that former
presidents have to follow
one of the greatest perks of being
president is not having to deal with
traffic every day
for one thing you've got drivers who can
take you anywhere you need to go
and for another the secret service can
block off traffic for you to ensure your
security
it's no fun for anyone else on the road
but hey you're the president and you
have important things to do there is a
downside though
once a president's term is over they can
never drive a car
on an open road again the reason is
because of the lifetime secret service
detail that all
ex-presidents get after all one of the
least safe places you can be is on the
road
and that's just under normal
circumstances add in that ex-presidents
are always a target
and things get even hairier so to ensure
their safety they're not allowed to hit
the road
as george w bush explained to jay leno
he's only allowed
to drive on his own private property far
from any reckless drivers or people who
wish him harm
he must be driven everywhere by secret
service agents trained in
evasive and defensive driving maneuvers
the rule was instituted after john f
kennedy's assassination in 1963
lyndon b johnson was to date the last
president to drive on public roads
one of the president's most important
duties is to be aware of any potential
threats to the security of the united
states
these briefings are carried out
constantly throughout a president's
tenure
even multiple times a day if necessary
because the world is always changing
and threats can come up unexpectedly
you'd think former presidents would no
longer need to be bothered about such
things
since they're retired from the job and
are now private citizens
but you'd be wrong they continue to
receive national security updates for
the rest of their lives
not necessarily because they're expected
to actively do anything about them
but just in case they have advice they
can offer the current administration
or if they get asked about the situation
by the press
even if being president isn't their job
anymore they still need constant updates
about what's going on
this actually became newsworthy in 2018
when president donald trump allegedly
threatened to revoke barack obama's
access to national security briefings
according to newsweek president trump
was rumored to be unaware that former
presidents received the briefings and
had to be
informed that this was normal and
nothing to be concerned about
though trump later said these rumors
were untrue whether or not it really
happened the story shined a light on
just what kind of access
ex-presidents have to day-to-day
information about the country's security
have you ever noticed that everyone who
serves as president gets a library named
after them when they leave office
there's a good reason for this it's a
law the 1955 presidential libraries act
established that each president would
oversee the creation of a library in
their name
while having a library named after
yourself is definitely a cool perk
residential libraries are a little
different they contain
every non-classified word a president
has written in office
even the stuff that may not be so good
such as bill clinton's library in little
rock arkansas
which features information about his
impeachment scandal they're not allowed
to keep certain materials out of their
libraries
as anything created during a president's
term is legally considered to be public
property
this was decided after richard nixon
attempted to leave out materials
regarding the watergate scandal
the lights are off and they must be
looking for a fuse box or something
because in flashlights
they're keeping me awake the individual
presidents do
have some control over how much a
certain subject is featured though
for example george w bush's library in
dallas texas
does mention his invasion of iraq but
instead of shying away from it the
materials on display
defend his decision to go to war we all
assume that the government is
listening to everything we do these days
especially after numerous scandals have
come up in the last two decades where
the government was caught doing exactly
that by surveilling u.s citizens without
a warrant
the intelligence community has since
tried to clean up its image by being
more transparent about this
and it now requires warrants in many
situations however the secret service
often gets exceptions to these rules in
cases relating to the security of
current and former presidents
for example according to the hill the
secret service got an exception to
warrant laws regarding so-called
stingray devices that can monitor the
location of cell phones
with the department of homeland security
arguing it was impractical to require
them to obtain warrants to monitor
the president and other important
individuals while this particular device
doesn't monitor the contents of
communications passed by the phones
this is just one of many techniques that
law enforcement can use for surveillance
and the secret service has pretty
sweeping jurisdiction over keeping
former presidents safe
whether that's from threatening phone
calls suspicious tweets
or anything in between routinely
monitoring a president or former
president's communications
is an invasive but necessary activity
the secret service has to undertake
to ensure the security of those they are
sworn to protect
former presidents don't have much
privacy and those snoopy secret service
agents
even get to paw through their mail an
ex-president's regular old snail mail
and packages must be examined by agents
before they can be delivered that may
sound like overkill but they've caught
several dangerous deliveries by doing
this even as recently as 2018
according to bloomberg law the secret
service successfully identified
explosives on route to former presidents
bill clinton and barack obama among
other vip targets
and it's not just a random agent
shuffling through and opening the
ex-president's mail on the way back from
their mailbox
it's all screened off-site by trained
security staff
with knowledge of dealing with
explosives dangerous chemicals and so on
every male piece is meticulously
examined for any possible threats to the
former president
what's more the secret service agents
aren't the only ones keeping an eye on
ex-presidential
mail the united states postal service
also gets in on the act as they monitor
any suspicious packages sent through the
mail no matter who they're going to
through a program called dangerous mail
investigations
which sounds like a show that cbs will
be picking up any day now
it's my opinion that it is utter
nonsense
every so often you just need some alone
time people take
walks seek out a quiet room or whatever
they need to find a little peace and
quiet
if this is you becoming president might
be a bad idea because you're literally
never alone and that continues even
after you've left office
secret service detail is a 24 7 thing
and former secret service agent jonathan
wackrow
described presidential protection to nbc
news is quote
the most intrusive thing that anyone
could ever experience
basically you're constantly surrounded
by people you barely know
and since agents can be swapped out or
moved around ex-presidents are likely to
be surrounded by strangers for the rest
of their lives
and these agents don't take a break when
things aren't going well
like when there are arguments between
spouses agents are even with former
presidents during holidays
imagine not being able to eat
thanksgiving dinner without a bunch of
people in black suits posted up nearby
this actually happened to donald trump
when he was president-elect
when he and his family sat down to
holiday dinner at mar-a-lago
more than 150 secret service agents were
there too
since all of his family members who were
in attendance had secret service details
of their own
being one of the most powerful
individuals in the world might seem like
it would include the ability to do well
pretty much anything you want
this isn't necessarily the case because
of that 24
7 365 day a year secret service detail
it's hard to be spontaneous if a regular
person wants to pop down to starbucks
and get a grande french vanilla latte or
whatever
they just head that way get their coffee
and get on with their day
due to a former president's large secret
service detail though
anything they want to do even normal
everyday stuff
becomes a huge undertaking think of
something you like to do every day
like taking a walk or going out for
dinner now imagine you have to do that
thing with an entourage of strangers
disrupting
everyone around you for the rest of your
life
for example president barack obama made
a starbucks run while he was still in
office
and it ended up with the secret service
blocking off much of the street and
moving pedestrians away from the
president
the president even asked the secret
service to give him a little space
just a small indicator of how
frustrating constant security must be
speaking of president obama he was a
pretty notorious fan of playing games to
pick up basketball
something he spent a lot of time doing
while in private life and as a senator
once he became president though the
secret service told him that they needed
four hours notice before such a game
which president obama wasn't terribly
happy about according to nbc news
so what's a former president to do if
they get sick of all these rules and
stipulations they have to follow
why even be president if you don't get
to spend your retirement years doing
whatever you feel like
right well there is a way they can get
out of having to deal with all this
and go back to how things were before
they took office by declining the secret
service detail
as it turns out this is an actual option
the secret service only protects those
who accept the protection
if a former president or anyone else
with security detail waives those
protections
they're free to accept responsibility
for their own safety and security
or maybe hire their own private security
that might be willing to let them do
more things without restrictions
former president richard nixon actually
did this in his later years
though the reason he gave was to save
the government some money
according to the new york times then in
2017
president trump's son donald jr
willingly declined secret service
protection as reported by the times
citing privacy as his reason for doing
so while the secret service heavily
discourages protectees from choosing to
do this
it's absolutely an option if a president
ever wants to drive their own car again
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