Barack Obama's Next Job

"Obama has spent almost all of his adult life working at an urban university-either as a student or as adjunct professor of law," says historian Michael Beschloss. "Thus it is hard to imagine an ex-president Obama who is not, in some sense, teaching."

Would Obama want to run a university? Several prestigious schools have vacancies at the top, like Brown. A bolder move for Obama, though, would be to create his own teaching forum at his presidential library. These facilities have gotten bigger with each successive president-George W. Bush has already raised more than $300 million for his-and given that Obama hasn't exactly shied away from lavishness in the past (recall his 2008 convention speech in a football stadium), it's fair to wonder if the eventual library could include an Obama University—esque extension. Possible symposia: "In Defense of Compromise"; "Roots of the Economic Meltdown, 2001—08."

Either way, he would have a chance to create a facility unlike those of his predecessors. "Right off, you'd have to merge the Internet campaign with the Internet generation," says Cathy Trost of the Newseum. "?'Participatory' is key. Just as the news business is widening the definition of who is a journalist, museums are widening the definition of who is a curator." Look for it in Chicago, Obama's adopted hometown and an academic hub.

Annual Earnings: $0

Likelihood: Hard to say