Doesn’t he still get secret service protection?
Q: How long does Secret Service protection last for former presidents? Does it include grandchildren? Can they refuse it if they wish?
REX PIERCE, OF EDWARDSVILLE
A: What the government giveth, the government can taketh away — only to giveth again.
That’s what happened three years ago when President Barack Obama signed legislation that restored lifetime Secret Service protection to former presidents and their spouses along with children until they are 16. It’s the latest chapter in a 60-year debate over just how much money should be spent on the nation’s former chief executives, who in the modern era generally have been far from destitute. And with the rancor that now often fills the nation’s capital, it’s a good bet the subject may arise again.