7 Everyday Things No U.S. President Is Allowed to Do While in Office

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Drive

Current and former presidents and vice presidents aren’t allowed to drive on the open road. The last president to do so was Lyndon B. Johnson. But not all driving is off-limits. Jim Ronan, PhD, author and professor of political science at Villanova University, notes that at locations like Camp David or at personal properties, the president is able to take a walk, ride a bike (George W. Bush’s preference) or do other simple tasks.

“One of the biggest restrictions former presidents have cited is the loss of driving privileges, even after leaving office,” says Ronan. “As a result, Presidents Reagan and George W. Bush each enjoyed riding around their respective ranches while in office, as the Secret Service allowed them to drive around the secured property.” 

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Use off-the-shelf electronic devices

Prior to Barack Obama, sitting presidents didn’t have personal cellphones, in part because of security concerns. But when he took office in 2009, Obama wasn’t thrilled about having to hand over his beloved Blackberry and convinced his advisors to let him hang on to it just to keep in touch with a small circle of contacts. The following year, he got an iPad, but not one you could get off the shelves of the Apple store: It was a more secure, specially made version known as the ObamaPad.

When Donald Trump took office in 2017, he reportedly went through several “burner” phones that he used for a brief period of time and then replaced for security reasons. Like Obama, Joe Biden is a fan of gadgets and used a modified Apple Watch and Peleton bike during his term.

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Attend their children’s performances or sporting events

Some of these rules affect other people as well, including the first family. “Another drawback cited by some former presidents is the impact on their immediate families,” says Ronan. “For instance, attending a child or grandchild’s dance recital or sporting event would involve such extensive security preparations for other attendees and participants that it’s essentially out of the question.”

Some presidents’ children attended school right in the White House (complete with a classroom and playground), “because of all of the security that would be required if they attended a traditional school,” Ronan adds.

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Block people on social media

As technology continues to advance, the Secret Service has to be aware of all new security threats, so one thing the president cannot do is use personal social media unmonitored. “A more recent restriction has involved personal technology, specifically, President Obama’s Blackberry and President Trump’s Twitter account,” says Ronan. “Both were advised to discontinue, or at least heavily curtail, their usage after assuming office.”

In 2018, a federal judge ruled that the president cannot block people on social media because it goes against their First Amendment right to free speech. Social media sites are often thought of as places to freely share ideas, and the leader of the free world can’t silence those voices in any way.

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Use commercial airlines

If the president ever had the aching desire to take an American Airlines flight, the Secret Service would reply, “Sorry, no can do.” Karla Mastracchio, PhD, a cybersecurity instructor for SecureSet, notes that this is one of the few “normal things” that the president absolutely cannot do.

Don’t shed a tear for POTUS, though: It’s a cushy ride. When you have Air Force One, why would you want to deal with the hassles that come with commercial airlines anyway?

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Open the windows

Nope, the president can’t even open the windows on a beautiful spring day. As she was anticipating the end of her husband’s term, former first lady Michelle Obama told late-night host Stephen Colbert, “I want to do little things, like, you know, open a window.” The simple action had been out of the question for years.

For security reasons, opening windows is prohibited in the White House and the car. Michelle Obama did mention one exception, though: “One day, as a treat, my lead agent let me have my windows open on the way to Camp David. It was like five minutes out. He was like, ‘Windows open. Enjoy it.'” It’s freedoms like these that we “normal people” often take for granted.

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Clean their office

Mastracchio notes that presidents are also discouraged from cleaning their office or throwing away mail. “Under the Presidential Records Act, they are mandated to hang on to things that an ordinary person does not,” she says. This includes emails. (Bad news for “inbox zero” people.) Everything must be meticulously sorted and cleaned by other White House staffers before it is tossed.

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Nothing … if we’re being technical

“An important final point is one that’s often overlooked: Although the Secret Service can advise and, in some cases, strongly discourage, they ultimately answer to the president,” says Ronan. “Therefore, if a president wants to do something that raises security issues, such as walking out of the White House to greet people or visiting a dangerous location, the president has the final say, and the Secret Service will try its best to adapt to the circumstances.”

That’s right: If the president has a driving urge to do something that could evoke a threat, the Secret Service has to let him do it.

Yet as Devin Schindler, an auxiliary dean and constitutional law professor at Western Michigan University, points out, a federal statute (18 U.S.C. 3056) gives the Secret Service “authorization” to protect the president and his immediate family. “The law essentially forbids the president from refusing Secret Service protection,” he says. “As a practical matter, a series of rules have developed over the years to protect the president from potential harm.”

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