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Can an Ex-President run for political office after his term as President is over?

Yeah, so I must not have payed attention during Government class and I was just wondering? More then anything is, if President Clinton ran for the Senate in New York, would it be legal? No stupid answers please I really want to know.

Update:

Please explain yourself. Or is it like when a Pro Athlete retires he becomes more of an ambassador to his trade?

12 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Yes he can.. Andrew Johnson was elected to the Senate after his term was over, and John Quincy Adams served in the House of Representatives. Usually however they don't.. if they serve 2 terms they usually retire and we pay for them to live in the lap of luxury the rest of their life :)

  • 1 decade ago

    A President can run for President again, only if he served 1 term and not 2 terms, since there is a limit on many years a person can serve as President. This amendment was put into the Constitution after FDR was President. If Clinton were to be a Senator, then that is perfectly legal. I don't remember at the top of my head, but I think William Howard Taft, after he was President, became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, so there is a precedent for serving in another office.

  • 1 decade ago

    Yes, an ex-President can run for any political office other than President.

    It has been done before. John Quincy Adams was president and then served in the House of Representatives.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    You can only be elected 2 times for the office of president.

    If you are VP and some thing happens to the president and you are the president for over 1/2 the time you can only run once.

    Being president does not keep you from running for any office you wish. It is just not done much. Most men after being in office are just to tired to run for any thing again.

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  • 1 decade ago

    There are no laws that say Bill Clinton can't run for the senate. He would however not be allowed to be president pro temp of the senate as that would put him in succession for the presidency. If he ran for the house it's the same except he couldn't be speaker of the house as again he would be in the line of secession.

  • 1 decade ago

    Yes a former President can serve in a lower office after his term as President is up. In fact it has happened before in 1828 John Quincy Adams was voted out of office, but then elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1830. I do believe there would be one lower office that a former President can not hold. That would be the office of Vice President if the former President served two terms. One of the requirements to server as Vice President is to eligible to run for President, one of which is you can only server two full terms, or a maximum of ten years if you assume the office mid term.

  • 1 decade ago

    It is perfectly legal for a former President to run for and hold other offices. In fact, some former Presidents have done very good things in public office after life in the White House. Some historians even argue that they did better AFTER being President than while being President. (e.g. Taft became Supreme Court Justice, Quincy Adams became a leading member of the House etc. etc.).

  • ?
    Lv 4
    1 decade ago

    I think it's legal for him to run for senate, but I don't think it has ever been done before. His name would be Mud, if he did. I wish he had remained in the White House. We would be in such better shape. Lets all just hope the Democrats take over the House and Senate today so we can slow down the Axis of Evil in the White House!

  • 1 decade ago

    yes, he can. It's perfectly legal and has been done numerous times in the past. He is only limited in the number of times he can be elected President, not limited to any other office he might choose to seek

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    no you can only serve two 4 year terms once those terms are up you can't run for president again the only way you can run for a second 4 year term is if you only served 1 4 year term then you can run for a second 4 year term

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