Which Former U.S. Presidents Are Still Alive? What the Remaining 5 Have Been Up to Since Leaving Office

Jimmy Carter, who extended his record as the longest-living U.S. president with his 99th birthday in 2023, is part of a dwindling number of living former U.S. presidents. He is in the company of just four others: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Besides Carter’s legacy and having the longest post-White House life, the 39th president also holds the distinction for having the most enduring presidential marriage to his late wife, Rosalynn Carter, who died in November 2023 after 77 years of marriage.

In May 2024, Carter's grandson Jason gave an update on his grandfather 15 months after the former president terminated medical intervention. "He really is, I think, coming to the end," Jason said while speaking at the annual Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum.

Read below about all five former heads of state who are still living, and learn what they've been up to since their respective terms ended.

Jimmy Carter, 39th U.S. President

Age: 99

Party: Democratic

Presidential Term: 1977–1981

Succeeded By: Ronald Reagan

In February 2023, the Carter Center announced that Carter had been moved to hospice care after "a series of short hospital stays."

"Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention," the organization’s statement read.

In May 2023, Carter’s wife of more than seven decades, Rosalynn, was diagnosed with dementia. Six months later, the former first lady and lifelong mental health and human rights advocate died at age 96 on Nov. 29, 2023, just two days after entering hospice care.

At a mental health forum in Rosalynn's honor at the Carter Center in May 2024, his grandson Jason Carter stated that Carter was "doing OK" but nearing the end of his time in hospice care. He added: "As I’ve said before, there’s a part of this faith journey that is so important to him, and there’s a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end and I think he has been there in that space."

Until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Carters had volunteered every year with Habitat for Humanity. Former President Carter also taught Sunday school classes in the couple’s hometown of Plains, Ga., for many years after his presidency.

Since his term in the White House, the politician has also authored more than 30 books, including 2018’s Faith: A Journey for All, which he published at age 93.

Bill Clinton, 42nd U.S. President

Age: 77

Party: Democratic

Presidential Term: 1993–2001

Succeeded By: George W. Bush

Since leaving office after a dramatic two terms, the once-impeached Clinton launched the Clinton Foundation in 2001 "to expand economic opportunity, improve public health, confront the climate crisis, and inspire citizen engagement and service."

In addition to helping campaign for wife Hillary Clinton in the 2008 and 2016 presidential elections, Clinton has continued to serve internationally, working with the United Nations on several diplomatic missions over the years.

Former President Clinton has faced several health scares over the years, including quadruple bypass surgery in 2004, a collapsed lung the next year, two coronary stents in 2010, sepsis in 2021 and a bout with COVID-19 in November 2022.

He and Hillary have since become grandparents to daughter Chelsea Clinton and son-in-law Marc Mezvinsky's three children: Charlotte, Aidan and Jasper.

In April 2024, it was announced that Clinton would publish a new memoir about his post-White House life, Citizen: My Life After the White House, due in November 2024.

George W. Bush, 43rd U.S. President

Age: 77

Party: Republican

Presidential Term: 2001–2009

Succeeded By: Barack Obama

Following his terms, former President Bush and his family moved back to their home state of Texas, where he's been known to frequent Dallas Cowboys and Rangers games with celebrity pals such as Ellen DeGeneres.

Additionally, he's taken up painting (with his work displaying at EPCOT's American Adventures pavilion at Disney!) and even published some books of portraits, paying tribute to America’s immigrants and military veterans.

In 2013, Bush had a coronary artery stent placed following a severe life-threatening blockage. In early 2023, the former head of state’s daughter Jenna Bush Hager revealed her father had undergone a seemingly successful back surgery, from which his spokesperson confirmed he was recovering well.

The former president and his wife, Laura Bush, are the proud grandparents to four grandchildren: Mila, Poppy and Hal from Jenna, as well as Cora from daughter Barbara Pierce Bush.

In addition to remaining outspoken about many of the issues the country faces today, he campaigned for his brother Jeb Bush during the 2016 Republican presidential primaries.

Their father, 41st President George H. W. Bush, held the record as the longest-living U.S. president until his death at 94 in 2018.

Barack Obama, 44th U.S. President

Age: 62

Party: Democratic

Presidential Term: 2009–2017

Succeeded By: Donald Trump

After making history as the country's first Black head of state, former President Barack Obama hosted the inaugural summit of the Obama Foundation in 2017.

He and his wife, Michelle Obama, also signed a deal with Netflix in 2018 to produce docuseries, documentaries and features through their Higher Ground Productions banner. They have since released several titles; their first, American Factory (2019), won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2020.

Although the Obamas were not included in the Oscar victory, the 44th U.S. president went on to win his first Emmy in 2022 for narrating the Netflix docuseries Our Great National Parks.

In 2020, Obama released his presidential memoir A Promised Land following a $65 million deal with Penguin Random House. Obama has also co-hosted the Renegades: Born in the USA podcast with Bruce Springsteen.

The Obamas share two daughters, Malia and Sasha Obama. Malia is a writer and director whose credits include The Heart (2023) and the Amazon Prime Video miniseries Swarm. Sasha is an academic who graduated from the University of Southern California with an undergraduate degree in sociology in May 2023.

In 2019, the Obamas bought a home in Martha's Vineyard for $11.75 million.

In the 2020 election against Trump, Obama endorsed his former vice president, Joe Biden, who became the 46th U.S. president.

Donald Trump, 45th U.S. President

Age: 77

Party: Republican

Presidential Term: 2017–2021

Succeeded By: Joe Biden

In the years since former President Trump left office, the twice-impeached politician moved into his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla.

The former president has been married to Melania Trump since 2005; they have one child together, Barron Trump. Trump also shares four children between ex-wives Ivana Trump and Marla Maples — Don Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump with Ivana and daughter Tiffany Trump with Maples — and 10 grandchildren.

In late 2020, while serving as head of state amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Trump tested positive for the widespread disease, which he called “a blessing from God.”

Trump announced his 2024 campaign for reelection in November 2022. In March 2024, he officially became the presumptive Republican nominee for president in 2024 after earning more than half of the total GOP delegates after the primary elections.

The billionaire's presidential pursuit hasn't been without serious legal woes, including those involving his possession of more than 300 classified documents after leaving office, as well as his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots on the U.S. Capitol. He's also been entangled in multiple lawsuits, such as a hush-money case in New York, the Georgia election case, the federal election case, the classified documents case and a civil fraud case.

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The bipartisan House committee investigating the January 6 riots recommended Trump be barred from holding office again in their final report released in December 2022.

After registering Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) in February 2021, Trump launched the social media platform Truth Social a year later. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has since been investigating TMTG for the company's merger with China-based Digital World Acquisition Corp.

Trump endorsed more than 200 candidates in the 2022 midterm elections, many of whom previously supported his unfounded claims of election fraud.