How much is the president paid?

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How much is the president paid?

The U.S. president hasn’t been given a raise in more than 20 years.

That means Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will earn the same salary as their predecessor: $400,000 a year, as specified in

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of the U.S. Code, paid monthly. The president also gets an additional $50,000 for expenses (non-taxable), a $100,000 travel account and a $19,000 entertainment budget. 

Of course, the nation’s commander in chief is also entitled to other benefits, not least of which is a paid-for mansion known as the White House, as a residence. 

Between 1969 and 2001, the last time Congress boosted the chief executive’s pay, the president earned $200,000 annually. In a 1999 

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on the proposed pay raise, it was noted that compensation for “one of the most difficult, demanding and important jobs on the face of the earth” had not risen in three decades, while the salaries of private-sector chief executive officers were soaring.

Government reform expert Paul C. Light

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that he supported a presidential salary increase “if only to signal that the ********* political system values its chief executive enough to occasionally boost the base salary.”

How much did U.S. presidents earn in the past?

Historically, the president’s annual salary was worth a lot more when taking inflation into account.

Here’s what presidents made per year during previous historical periods, according to the

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, citing Congressional Quarterly’s “Guide to the Presidency.” How much that pay is worth in today’s dollars, after adjusting for inflation and based on calculations from

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, is noted in parentheses:

1789: $25,000 ($895,741)
1873: $50,000 ($1.3 million)
1909: $75,000 ($2.6 million)
1949: $100,000 (plus $50,000 taxable expense account) ($1.3 million)
1969: $200,000 (plus $50,000 taxable expense account) ($1.7 million)

More money in memoirs

It’s worth noting that presidents remain on the federal government’s payroll after leaving The White House too. Since 1958, former presidents have earned an annual pension, which now amounts to more than $200,000. They also get office space in a place of their choosing and travel expenses, according to the

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. 

U.S. presidents also typically earn much more money when they leave office through book sales, speaking engagements, media deals and other lucrative endeavors. 

Ulysses S. Grant was the first U.S. president to write a memoir, which he famously finished only days before his ****** in 1885. Virtually every modern president, with the exception of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, both of whom ***** while in office, has written a memoir.

“It’s where a lot of money comes from after they have been president,” Barbara Perry, co-chair of the Presidential ***** History Program at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, told CBS MoneyWatch. “Written memoirs have earned them millions.”

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Megan Cerullo

Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.

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#president #paid

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