Life After Power: Seven Presidents and Their Search for Purpose Beyond the White House

Summary

This “informative…highly readable” (The Wall Street Journal) New York Times bestselling book from the author of the bestseller Accidental Presidents explores what happens after the most powerful job in the world: President of the United States.

Former presidents have an unusual place in American life. King George III believed that George Washington’s departure after two terms made him “the greatest character of the age.” But Alexander Hamilton worried former presidents might “[wander] among the people like ghosts.” They were both right.

Life After Power tells the stories of seven former presidents, from the Founding to today. Each changed history. Each offered lessons about how to decide what to do in the next chapter of life. This book follows the exceptional lives of past presidents including:
-Thomas Jefferson whose time after the White House saw him shaping public debates and founding the University of Virginia, an accomplishment he included on his tombstone, unlike his presidency.
-John Quincy Adams who served in Congress and became a leading abolitionist, passing the torch to Abraham Lincoln.
-Grover Cleveland who was the only president in American history to serve a nonconsecutive term.
-William Howard Taft who became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
-Herbert Hoover who shaped the modern conservative movement, led relief efforts after World War II, reorganized the executive branch, and reconciled John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
-Jimmy Carter who had the longest post-presidency in American history, advancing humanitarian causes, human rights, and peace.
-George W. Bush who made a clean break from politics, bringing back George Washington’s precedent, and reminding the public that the institution of presidency is bigger than any person.

Jared Cohen explores the untold stories in the final chapters of these presidents’ lives, offering a “unique and fascinating look at how seven individuals made the transition from the most powerful position in the world to consequential and fulfilling lives post-presidency” (Condoleezza Rice, 66th Secretary of State). He tells how they handled very human problems of ego, finances, and questions about their legacy and mortality. He shows how these men made history after they left the White House.