As his second term wraps up, President Barack Obama will move on to the next chapter of his life. When he leaves office in January 2017, Obama will be 55 years old, making him one of the youngest presidents to exit the White House. While he has shared some clues about his plans after presidency, it remains unclear how he will navigate his years after the White House.
While some former presidents have spent their post-presidency years picking up a hobby like painting, others have opted to stay very active in public life. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, for example, each started their own foundations after their time in office.
With this in mind, InsideGov chose to explore the lives of U.S. presidents after their time in the White House. Using data from the Congressional Research Service, InsideGov identified the presidents with the longest retirements, calculated by the number of years from leaving the White House to their death (or the current publication date for those still living).
#26. George W. Bush
Length of Retirement: 7.24 Years (as of publication)
Age at the End of Office: 62
Age at Death: N/A
Date of Death: N/A
For the most part, Bush has steered away from politics after leaving office. In 2010, he published a memoir titled “Decision Points,” which became a best-seller.
#25. James Buchanan
Length of Retirement: 7.25 Years
Age at the End of Office: 69
Age at Death: 77
Date of Death: June 1, 1868
Buchanan remained an unpopular figure in his post-presidency years, as the public blamed him for not properly handling the issue of southern secession. He retired to his home in Pennsylvania, where he largely stayed out of the public eye.
#24. Benjamin Harrison
Length of Retirement: 8.02 Years
Age at the End of Office: 59
Age at Death: 67
Date of Death: March 13, 1901
Harrison resumed his law career after his presidency, even representing Venezuela in a border dispute with British Guiana.
#23. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Length of Retirement: 8.18 Years
Age at the End of Office: 70
Age at Death: 78
Date of Death: March 28, 1969
“Ike” remained a popular figure after his presidency. During the Vietnam War, then-President Lyndon Johnson consulted with Eisenhower about strategy.
#22. Andrew Jackson
Length of Retirement: 8.26 Years
Age at the End of Office: 69
Age at Death: 78
Date of Death: June 8, 1845
Jackson retired to his estate in Tennessee, but he continued to have a political presence through his successor and confidante, then-President Martin Van Buren.
#21. Ulysses S. Grant
Length of Retirement: 8.39 Years
Age at the End of Office: 54
Age at Death: 63
Date of Death: July 23, 1885
After leaving the White House, Grant and his wife, Julia, embarked on a two-year journey around the world.
#20. Theodore Roosevelt
Length of Retirement: 9.84 Years
Age at the End of Office: 50
Age at Death: 60
Date of Death: Jan. 6, 1919
“Retirement” is certainly a misnomer for Roosevelt’s post-presidency years. Whether hunting in Africa, exploring the wilds of the Amazon basin or forming his own political party, Roosevelt kept busy after leaving the White House.
#19. Grover Cleveland
Length of Retirement: 11.3 Years (calculation accounts for years after his second nonconsecutive term ended)
Age at the End of Office: 59
Age at Death: 71
Date of Death: June 24, 1908
Despite the encouragement of his party, Cleveland refused to seek a third term in office. Instead, he retired to Princeton, New Jersey, serving as a trustee of Princeton University.
#18. Rutherford B. Hayes
Length of Retirement: 11.87 Years
Age at the End of Office: 58
Age at Death: 70
Date of Death: Jan. 17, 1893
Hayes took up many political issues after his presidency, including speaking out against the death penalty.
#17. Franklin Pierce
Length of Retirement: 12.60 Years
Age at the End of Office: 52
Age at Death: 64
Date of Death: Oct. 8, 1869
Although he supported the North when the Civil War broke out, Pierce publicly criticized then-President Abraham Lincoln, drawing the ire of many northerners.
#16. Bill Clinton
Length of Retirement: 15.24 Years (as of publication)
Age at the End of Office: 54
Age at Death: N/A
Date of Death: N/A
Since leaving office, Clinton has remained in the public spotlight through his nonprofit organization, the Clinton Foundation. The foundation has tackled issues such as global health, climate change and childhood obesity.
#15. Ronald Reagan
Length of Retirement: 15.37 Years
Age at the End of Office: 77
Age at Death: 93
Date of Death: June 5, 2004
The oldest president to leave the White House, Reagan retired to his home in Los Angeles, California. In 1994, Reagan openly acknowledged his struggle with Alzheimer’s, raising public awareness of the disease.
#14. John Tyler
Length of Retirement: 16.89 Years
Age at the End of Office: 54
Age at Death: 71
Date of Death: Jan. 18, 1862
When it appeared that the Civil War could not be avoided, Tyler became an advocate for Southern secession and was even elected to the Confederate House of Representatives in 1861.
#13. William Howard Taft
Length of Retirement: 17.01 Years
Age at the End of Office: 55
Age at Death: 72
Date of Death: March 8, 1930
Taft fulfilled his lifelong dream when President Warren Harding appointed him as chief justice of the Supreme Court in 1921. Taft served in this position until his death in 1930.
#12. Thomas Jefferson
Length of Retirement: 17.33 Years
Age at the End of Office: 65
Age at Death: 83
Date of Death: July 4, 1826
A renaissance man, Jefferson pursued a variety of interests in his post-presidency years, including philosophy, natural sciences and architecture.
#11. John Quincy Adams
Length of Retirement: 18.97 Years
Age at the End of Office: 61
Age at Death: 80
Date of Death: Feb. 23, 1848
Despite a rocky presidency, Adams had a successful political career in his post-office years. Serving nine terms in Congress after leaving the White House, Adams became one of the nation’s most outspoken abolitionists.
#10. James Madison
Length of Retirement: 19.32 Years
Age at the End of Office: 65
Age at Death: 85
Date of Death: June 28, 1836
After retiring to his Virginia plantation, Montpelier, Madison become involved with the University of Virginia, replacing Jefferson as rector in 1826.
#9. Richard Nixon
Length of Retirement: 19.70 Years
Age at the End of Office: 61
Age at Death: 81
Date of Death: April 22, 1994
Following his resignation and the public outrage over his pardoning, Nixon was hesitant to enter the public spotlight again. However, facing financial strain, he agreed to a series of interviews with British journalist David Frost in 1977.
#8. Harry S. Truman
Length of Retirement: 19.93 Years
Age at the End of Office: 68
Age at Death: 88
Date of Death: Dec. 26, 1972
Truman retired to his hometown of Independence, Missouri. He remained an active voice in politics, openly criticizing the Eisenhower administration.
#7. Millard Fillmore
Length of Retirement: 20.94 Years
Age at the End of Office: 53
Age at Death: 74
Date of Death: March 8, 1874
Three years after he left the White House, Fillmore accepted the nomination for president of the anti-immigration Know-Nothing Party. He won just over 20 percent of the popular vote in the general election.
#6. Martin Van Buren
Length of Retirement: 21.39 Years
Age at the End of Office: 58
Age at Death: 79
Date of Death: July 24, 1862
Like Fillmore, Van Buren launched an unsuccessful third-party campaign for the presidency after leaving the White House. Van Buren’s Free Soil Party, which opposed the expansion of slavery, won just 10 percent of the popular vote in the 1848 election.
#5. George H. W. Bush
Length of Retirement: 23.24 Years (as of publication)
Age at the End of Office: 68
Age at Death: N/A
Date of Death: N/A
Like his son, Bush Sr. largely returned to a private life after his presidency. In 2004, Bush worked with former President Bill Clinton to support communities affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami.
#4. John Adams
Length of Retirement: 25.33 Years
Age at the End of Office: 65
Age at Death: 90
Date of Death: July 4, 1826
Adams retired to his farm in Massachusetts, where he wrote prolifically on a number of topics. He died on July 4, 1826, a few hours after his political rival and friend Thomas Jefferson passed away.
#3. Gerald Ford
Length of Retirement: 29.93 Years
Age at the End of Office: 63
Age at Death: 93
Date of Death: Dec. 26, 2006
Despite losing re-election in 1976, Ford refused to leave the public spotlight. He authored several books and remained an important figure in the GOP.
#2. Herbert Hoover
Length of Retirement: 31.63 Years
Age at the End of Office: 58
Age at Death: 90
Date of Death: Oct. 20, 1964
Throughout his 31 years of “retirement,” Hoover was active in both domestic and foreign politics. During World War II, Hoover headed up an international relief organization and was openly against the use of the atomic bomb in Japan.
#1. Jimmy Carter
Length of Retirement: 35.24 Years (as of publication)
Age at the End of Office: 56
Age at Death: N/A
Date of Death: N/A
Carter has an extensive post-presidency career, founding the Carter Center in 1982. In 2002, Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote global peace and socioeconomic development.