 "US President Joe Biden is set to retire from public office on January 20. There is a lot of speculation of what he might do next. File image/AP")
Joe Biden is all set to retire from his current role as the 46th President of the United States. This means he will have a lot more free time on his hands than he had throughout his presidency or career as a politician. But what are his plans?
Recently, Biden has admitted to being unsure about his future. Speaking to USA Today, he said, “Who knows what I’m going to be when I’m 86 years old?”
At 82, Biden is the oldest US president to leave office . As he readies to say goodbye to the White House, here are some ways he might spend his upcoming years.
Seek to enhance his legacy
The 46th US president is not likely to return to politics again due to age and health issues, something that his presidential predecessor-turned-successor Donald Trump has done. Although the Democrat has kept his post-presidency plans largely private, those who have known him for years note that it’s a subject he rarely discusses, confined to a small group of close aides.
However, he could take a cue from those who came before him. Some modern former presidents have collected large fees for post-White House speaking engagements. Biden, plagued most of his term by low approval ratings, could use such appearances to bolster his legacy and future popularity.
The good news for Biden is that presidents often 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 became more favourably viewed in subsequent years, despite keeping a low public profile while taking up painting. Trump was similarly dogged by low approval ratings throughout his first term but won back the White House in November.
Start a presidential library
Biden can spend his time fundraising and starting work on plans for his presidential library, which will probably be located in his home state of Delaware. There, he served as a senator for 36 years and spent many weekends during his presidency.
Officials have already enlisted at least one Biden administration ambassador to help with fundraising. A model can be the Barack Obama Presidential Center, a 19.3-acre library and museum in Chicago. Work began three years ago, with completion expected in 2026.
Sorting out official documents
According to aides, Biden tends to be somewhat of a pack rat and may wish to keep some documents and memorabilia from his White House years, but he must proceed carefully. Federal law requires elected officials to hand over official documents and classified materials upon leaving office.
Biden’s personal lawyers have been managing documents carefully, even before classified materials from his time as a senator and vice president were discovered at the Penn Biden Center in Washington and in his Delaware garage.
Those discoveries followed an FBI search in 2022 on Trump’s Florida club, part of a documents case that was scrapped after he won back the White House. In Biden’s case, special counsel Robert Hur later released a report impugning the president’s age and mental competence but didn’t seek criminal charges over mishandled documents.
“We are going to do our best, certainly, to be careful to follow the rules, to do this the right way,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked about document retention on Friday.
Write another memoir — also carefully
Biden has written two memoirs, ‘Promises to Keep’ published in 2007 and ‘Promise Me, Dad,’ released in 2017. But, according to those close to him, he hasn’t expressed much interest in writing a third memoir yet.
However, if he changes his mind and comes around to writing one he would need to proceed with caution. Hur accused Biden of being sloppy about 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 worked on his second memoir.
Ultimately, Hur’s report said Zwonitzer offered “plausible, innocent reasons” for having done so and subsequently cooperated with investigators.
Become a part of the ex-president’s club
A long-time admirer of political tradition, Biden may welcome membership in the ex-presidents’ club. Former commanders-in-chief occasionally gather for photos, share mutual praise at historical events, and sit together at VIP funerals.
They often collaborate on special initiatives, such as promoting vaccines during the Covid pandemic or fundraising after natural disasters. They seldom criticise one another and are even more restrained when commenting on current White House occupants.
Also read: Presidents of the United States: When Barack Obama, Mr hope and change, went to Washington
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 reelection bid. That was similar to how he shunned typical post-presidency endeavours like working on building a presidential library, instead concentrating on his 2024 campaign.
Biden already convened his own former president’s club of sorts while 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 seized on Biden’s ever-present optimism in his public comments to predict, “People, when they look at all that you’ve managed to do, they’re gonna remember. Time will remember, always, your words.”
Try his hand at business?
Speaking of celebrities, Biden has floated the idea of more glitzy post-presidential pursuits. In August, about a month after he scrapped his reelection 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 help 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’m coming to you, pal.”
“I’m looking for work in February,” Biden said to laughter. “Maybe you’ve got something for me? A Biden-De Niro combination? I can’t sing, I can’t act, I can’t dance, do a damn thing – but I could help ya.”
With inputs from AP