The figure of the ex-president is one of the most endearingly republican features of American politics. He who was the most powerful man in the world for as many as eight years turns overnight into a political fossil.
He’s no longer the leader of his party, much less his country. Whether in his fifties or in his seventies, his battles are over. Now there’s just millions to be made on the corporate lecture circuit and publishing ghosted memoirs. If you’re Jimmy Carter, you build houses for the poor. If not, the spotlight returns only when you’re the opening act for your party’s next nominee at the convention. The only big national event that’s all about you, once your time as president is up, is your funeral.
Donald Trump will be an ex-president like no other because he is a political force like no other — at least since Theodore Roosevelt. Trump will not just be an ex-president.
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