Rules Former Presidents Have To Follow
By ASHER CANTRELL
and BRIAN BOONE
History - Science
No Personal driving
Once their term ends, former presidents can never drive on the open road again — they must be driven everywhere by Secret Service agents trained in "evasive and defensive driving maneuvers." This rule was instituted after the 1963 assassionation of John F. Kennedy, making Lyndon B. Johnson the last president to drive on public roads.
National Security Briefings
Former presidents 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.
Presidential Libraries
The 1955 Presidential Libraries Act established that each president would oversee the creation of a library in their name that contains every word they wrote in office. 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.
Monitoring Tech Usage
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 former president's communications is an invasive but necessary activity to ensure their security.
Searching Their Mail
An ex-president's regular old snail mail and packages must be screened off-site by trained security staff with knowledge of dealing with explosives and dangerous chemicals 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.