it's not a normal situation. we have seen it before. bill clinton was very young when he became an ex-president. he went on to form the clinton foundation and global initiative and to -- and to be very active and to do a lot. and one wonders what will be the big project that we see from barack obama? it's not -- the one thing that's not imageable is that he fades away. i think he'll be a real presence in our nation's life for many, many years to come. >> gene, thank you for that. jon meacham, historian and author has been watching and listening with us. jon, i'm thinking of the times in recent american history when we just didn't have living ex-presidents. it was during the nixon era, truman and johnson died kind of close together. we're right now living in this era, and with the health of 41 foremost in our minds today, assuming he does what he's