Only five people are currently eligible to check in to this
club. And one more will be added after the next Presidential election. That’s
right, I’m talking about the President’s Club. Started during Dwight
Eisenhower’s inauguration, it was just an idea then as both Herbert Hoover and
Harriet Truman were still alive. In those days, when presidents consulted
former presidents, they maybe shared stories, but not more than that. There
were limits to what former presidents could do. But now, with presidents living
longer, they continue to have influence even after they retire.
The idea of a former president mentoring and advising the
current president was barely a concept from the beginning of the institution.
More often than not, a layer of distrust or even bitterness in some cases
existed between the man leaving the most powerful position on earth, and the
one gaining it. However, this changed with the Truman administration. Just
weeks after inauguration, Truman contacted Hoover and gave him the job of
convincing America and the world to send food and aid to the ravaged parts of
Europe after WW2. Just to be clear, the seasoned Republican didn’t think much
of the fledgling Democrat, but over the course of many interactions, they
formed a lasting relationship that continued long after Truman’s term in
office.
Lets be honest: only people who have sat at the big desk
know what it’s like to be president. That’s probably the reason why current
presidents are now consulting current presidents more often. The morning John
Kennedy was going to call quarantine on Cuba that could start a nuclear war, he
called Eisenhower. Clinton called Nixon multiple times late at night to talk
about Russia, China, and how to run the Oval office. The night Bin-Laden was
killed, Obama placed his first two calls to George W. Bush and Clinton.
The President’s Club has its rules: stay in touch. Don’t
talk about club business to the press. It also has its own feasts and rituals.
It even has a clubhouse across the street from the White House. To make
reservations for the clubhouse, you have to call the White House. This
clubhouse/hotel may not be the best staying place in terms of service, but it
does have dedicated accommodations for a full secret service detail.
In 2009, when Obama was going to become president, Bush
tried to make the transition as smooth as possible for him. None of the four
living former presidents were necessarily “excited” about Obama, but as Obama
said, “They were all incredibly gracious.” Obama decided to invite all four
former presidents to a luncheon in early January of 2009, and asked Bush the
son to host it. The White House was nervous to invite Carter because he had
criticized everything they had done for the past eight years. But everybody
came: Bush, Carter, Clinton and Bush the elder. “We spent an hour talking about
how we dealt with the White House staff and what living accommodations were and
what to do about putting our kids in school in Washington…and how much of an
intrusion it was on our private affairs to have security,” Carter said when
interviewed.
In 2008, Obama came to Texas A&M collage station to meet
with H.W. Bush. Bush went out of his way to welcome Obama, and Obama did the
same. “He’s a citizen whose life has embodied that ethic… He could easily have
chosen a life of comfort and privilege, and instead, time and again, when
offered a chance to serve, he seized it,” said Obama.
This club will only become more important as the years go
by, and it is likely that its members will continue to see a growth in their
influence over the current president even as the executive branch grows
stronger. And no doubt the president will increasingly rely on the former
presidents for support and advice even as the United States is at a critical
juncture in its history. Who knows what the 2016 presidential election will
bring to the Presidents Club? Oh, and another duty that comes with being a
member of the club is that when the president summons you, you go.
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