This Is The Reason Former Presidents Can't Drive
Being president of the United States isn't easy. As Global Research reports, the country has been at war with somebody or another for roughly 93 percent of the time that it's existed. We've gone through multiple recessions, depressions, a Civil War, and successfully managed major turning points like the Civil Rights Movement. There are private companies that are nearly as powerful as government entities. Not to mention, almost half the country hates (or at least didn't vote for) whichever president is in power. All in all, being a president has to be rough, and some of the rules surrounding the job make it even more so. At least the silly rules end when a president's time in office is up, right? Actually, only some of them do.
There are some seriously ridiculous rules that come with being a former American president. A former president has to establish a presidential library, they're allowed virtually no privacy, and they're surrounded by Secret Service agents every hour of the day. In what's possibly the most annoying rule former presidents have to follow, they aren't even allowed to drive themselves. No trips to the grocery store in the middle of the night when they have the munchies. No slipping out to just, well, get out of the house (and don't most of us feel that way lately?). None of the normal stuff that goes with being an independent adult.
Nevertheless, they somehow have to get from Point A to Wherever.
Secret Service, take the wheel!
It all comes down to the same lack of privacy that plagues the other aspects of former presidents' lives. Since past presidents are often targets under threat, the Secret Service still has a job to do. They were, after all, in charge of an entire nation, and the country isn't about to toss away its highest leadership as soon as they're finished with the job.
Keeping a former president safe requires a lot more than standing around in bullet-proof vests, scaring folks off with a dangling white earpiece. Danger takes several possible routes. Someone could shoot at the former Commander in Chief, a disgruntled citizen could send a bomb via mail, or an enraged staff member could poison their food. An enraged driver could try to run them off a bridge or something.
Driving is a potentially dangerous activity as it is. For any of us, if you're behind the wheel, you're vulnerable. Even with seat belts, air bags, and everything else, steering an automobile is a little more dangerous when you're a high-level target. Secret Service agents are trained for this. They undergo courses for "evasive and defensive driving maneuvers." As former president George Bush explained to Jay Leno (via CNBC), the only time he was allowed to drive his own vehicle was when he was on his own property. Hitting a public road meant Secret Service agents were taking the wheel, and it's been that way since President Kennedy's assassination in 1963.