Mr. Obama and his family now live in an 8,200-square-foot, nine-bedroom home in Washington valued at $6 million. The house, which rents for an estimated $22,000 a month, is in one of Washington’s richest neighborhoods, surrounded by ambassadors, executives and other members of the political elite.

“I don’t think that former presidents necessarily take vows of poverty, or should,” said David Axelrod, one of Mr. Obama’s closest advisers. “Will he be out there doing good? I think he will be. I watched him for eight years devote every ounce of his energy and thought and attention to the service of this country. I hope that he does find some personal time and solace and enjoyment now. He’s earned it.”

Mr. Obama is hardly the first former president to collect big checks after his time in the White House. Former President Bill Clinton became rich after leaving office, earning an average of more than $200,000 per speech over more than a decade. And former President George W. Bush was blunt when asked, shortly after he left office, what he intended to do.

“I’ll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol’ coffers,” he told The New York Times in 2007. Eventually, Mr. Bush reportedly received $100,000 to $175,000 for each appearance.

In 1989, Ronald Reagan earned $2 million for a week of speechmaking in Japan after leaving office. The Japan visit, for which he was subsequently the subject of derision, was sponsored by Fujisankei Communications Group, the country’s largest media conglomerate.

“Every president since I’ve been active in politics immediately got whacked for big speechifying” after leaving office, said Joe Trippi, a veteran Democratic strategist. “I can’t remember it not happening. And they never look good.”

Mr. Obama, who grew up without great wealth, had amassed several million dollars by the time he became president, mostly from sales of his first book, “Dreams From My Father.” He and his wife, Michelle, have each received multimillion-dollar contracts to write new memoirs. Some reports pegged the two book deals together at a total of $60 million.