Being president comes with numerous benefits but living a normal life is not one of them. Experts in the field recently revealed to Reader's Digest some of the everyday things that the U.S. president is not allowed to do while in office. Here we look at 9 of them.
1. Have a spur-of-the-moment phone call or video chat with friends. If the president wants to have a casual chat with friends via phone call or video chat, he has to first notify the Secret Service. "The Secret Service goes to great lengths to plan, coordinate, and secure all of the president’s activities," said Matt Pinsker, a Homeland Security professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. "For example, talking to a friend over the phone or video-chat can only be done on a secured line."
2. Go to the movies. According to Pinsker, the U.S. president has to settle for watching movies in a home theater, which may not be such a bad thing as he does not have to put up with noisy eaters and people talking.
3. Go out to dinner at the last minute. Running a country is a big responsibility and you would think the president is entitled to some dining at a luxurious restaurant and it can be done, but Pinsker explained that the president would have to notify the Secret Service well in advance in order to secure the restaurant. The president does have his own taxpayer-provided chef in the White House but another disadvantage is having to pay out-of-pocket for basic groceries and other necessities.
4. Drive. The president is not allowed to drive. Instead, he is driven in a highly secured vehicle by an individual who has undergone extensive training to prepare for an emergency situation, Pinsker said.
5. Attend their children’s performances or sporting events. Being actively involved and supporting their children's extramural activities is another everyday thing the U.S. president is not allowed to do. Dr. Jim Ronan, author and professor of political science at Villanova University, explained that attending a child or grandchild’s dance recital or sporting event involves extensive security preparations for other attendees and it’s essentially out of the question.
6. Use commercial airlines. We would all choose a private luxury flight over a commercial airline but if the president ever wanted to take a commercial flight, it would not be allowed.
7. Open the windows. For security reasons, windows in the White House and the car in which the president is traveling cannot be opened. Former First Lady Michelle Obama told Stephen Colbert expressed how frustrating the limitation could be. "I want to do little things like, you know, open a window."
8. Clean their office. The U.S. President is discouraged from doing a little spring cleaning. "Under the Presidential Records Act, they are mandated to hang on to things that an ordinary person does not," explained Dr. Karla Mastracchio, a cybersecurity instructor for SecureSet.
9. Use unmonitored personal technology. The Secret service needs to stay atop of technological developments and be aware of new security threats, which is why a recent restriction was introduced on personal technology. This was enforced on President Obama’s Blackberry and President Trump’s Twitter account, according to Ronan. "Both were advised to discontinue, or at least heavily curtail, their usage after assuming office."
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