Post-Presidential life

May 07, 2010 Editorial

In the April edition of “Journal of Democracy”, Lisa Anderson, formerly of Columbia University, surveyed the neglected issue of what Presidents do after they demit office. There has been much speculation about the plans of our own President, who has emphasised that he has no interest in a third term – barred in any case by the Constitution. Her survey may offer us a clue.
She claims that in 1912, ex-US president William Taft summarised the concerns of his species: “the burden of thinking [about] how he is to support himself and his family, fix his place in history, and enable the public to pass on to new men and new measures.”
“Once they have secured their financial well-being and rightful place in history, former leaders seem to pursue one of four fairly predictable paths: genuine retirement, work in the private sector, a return to public office, or humanitarian action. Some—but surprisingly few—actually retire to devote themselves to pastimes of little public import.
Some former leaders move to the private sector after leaving office. While such a course may not be difficult to combine with playing golf, it may well present a challenge to the dignity and probity associated with a lifetime of public service. The same perspective and sagacity that make them sought-after speakers (or is it their celebrity and influential friends?) make ex-leaders attractive to private-sector business.
Barely six months after leaving office, former British prime minister Tony Blair announced that he would join J.P. Morgan “in a senior advisory capacity” for what was said to be more than $1 million a year. However, as philanthropist Mo Ibrahim observed of Africa – and most of the Third World – “We don’t have financial institutions for ex-presidents to go and run, or boards of great companies.” This very assumption—that the prospects for post-political life colour the political behaviour of sitting leaders—inspired the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s new $5 million Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, which recognizes former African leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to good governance, including the willingness to relinquish power at the appointed hour.
Some former leaders have also been willing to serve in positions typically viewed as less august. There are numerous examples of onetime heads of state and government who—unlike Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who engineered his being named prime minister after stepping down as president—contentedly assumed lesser roles.
Opportunities for post-presidential service in international and regional organizations are presenting themselves in increasing numbers, as such institutions themselves proliferate. Former Irish president Mary Robinson became the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; former Norwegian premier Gro Harlem Brundtland served as Director General of the World Health Organization.
Just as formal positions of authority are proliferating globally, informal or short-term international roles that deal with “critical and controversial issues” are also multiplying. Among the former leaders who have served recently as UN “special envoys” are Ricardo Lagos of Chile, Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, and Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique.
These kinds of roles point to the fourth path available to ex-politicians: neither complete retirement nor work in the public or the private sector, but rather engagement in what has come to be known as the “third sector”—the world of not-for-profit and nongovernmental organizations. This approach to life after politics has a distinguished pedigree. Many U.S. ex-presidents have become involved in education, for example.
The number of former presidents using their expertise for genuinely humanitarian ends is quickly growing, however. It was Jimmy Carter who created the modern “post-presidency” as an exercise in humanitarian action, establishing the Carter Center at Emory University, an action-oriented public-policy institute devoted to democracy promotion, conflict resolution, election monitoring, and global health.
It is a model that has become increasingly popular around the world. Tanzania’s Benjamin Mkapa—with international partners (including the Clinton Foundation) providing financial backing—established the Mkapa HIV Foundation in 2007.”
In our neck of the woods, through the unremitting hard work of President Jagdeo, Guyana has been punching above its weight in the fledgling new “global green carbon economy”. This might be the area that could keep the still-young Mr Jagdeo busy when his term is over.

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