Congress determines the president's salary, and Congress is also responsible for reviewing and increasing the president's salary. This means that the president himself cannot increase his salary. But being the strongest person in the country, can't the president influence Congress in order to increase his salary? Well, drafters of the Constitution have taken such a scenario into account. To prevent this, the US Constitution, under Section 1 (1), states that the president's salary may not be increased or decreased during his current term. This means that even if the president has somehow influenced Congress to raise his salary, he must wait until the next election to get a higher salary, and there is no guarantee that he will win the next presidential election. This article not only prevents the president from influencing Congress to raise his salary, but also makes it impossible for this legislature to influence the incumbent president or force him to change his salary, up or down.

How much is the US President's salary?

The current US president, Donald Trump, receives a salary of $ 400,000 a year, in addition to receiving annual expenses of $ 50,000, non-tax travel expenses of $ 100,000 a year, and entertainment expenses of $ 19 thousand a year. The president's salary was only $ 400,000 in January 2001. The increase was imposed by the Treasury and Government Appropriations Act, passed by Congress at the end of its 106th session.

One of the reasons for the rise in the presidential salary was the steady rise in the cost of living. As this increase came into effect in January 2001, the former president, George W. Bush, who took office the same year, was the first president to receive this level of salary, and so did the presidents who came after him: George W. Bush, and Barak. Obama, Trump.

Is that all that the US president earns?

Although this high salary is enough to put US presidents at the top of the top 1% of America's top earners, it is part of what US presidents get for the presidency.

How much was the President's salary before this increase?

Before the 2001 increase, the president's salary increased fourfold. The US Constitution in 1789, the first year a US president took office, set the president's salary at $ 25,000 a year. In 1873, 84 years after the first US president took office, Congress decided to raise the president's salary. Beginning with President Ulysses Grant's second term, the president's salary has doubled to $ 50,000 a year, and the president's salary has remained unchanged for three decades.

36 years later, Congress again made amendments to Article 1, Section 1, of the US Constitution, and increased the president's salary to $ 75,000 a year. These changes came into effect following the inauguration of President William Howard in 1909, followed by four decades before the salary was reviewed again. In 1949, the presidential salary increased by 33%, to $ 100,000 a year. These new changes came into effect as President Harry Truman took office in his second term, making Truman the first American president to receive a six-digit salary. The salary of the president remained at this level for the next 20 years.

In 1969, when President Richard Nixon took office, Congress decided to double the presidential salary again from $ 100,000 to $ 200,000 a year, making Nixon the first president to receive such a salary. This salary has been in effect for just over 30 years. Apart from Nixon, the other presidents who received that salary were Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. In 2001, the salary increased to $ 400,000 a year, which US presidents still have to date.

Financial benefits

Apart from this salary, the US president receives other financial benefits, being president, including:

Dedicated medical team

The President of the United States has an official physician and is also the director of the White House Medical Unit. The role of the White House Medical Unit is to provide the president with comprehensive medical care and to respond to the president's emergency around the world. This is not just about the president, but also his family. The White House Medical Unit maintains an on-site clinic at the White House, run by three to five military doctors, as well as a team of nurses, doctors and paramedics. The director of the White House medical unit and some of his team members are available to the president around the clock, whether in the White House or on an official mission.

Annual expense account

Beginning in 1949, the US Congress decided to grant the president annual expenses of $ 50,000 a year to cover miscellaneous expenses. In most cases, these expenses are used to cover the costs of meetings that do not fall within the budgets of government departments.

Entertainment expenses

The president of the United States is entitled to $ 19,000 in entertainment expenses per year. These expenses took effect during Nixon's tenure. At first it was $ 12,000. Such funds are not used to meet official duties, as such costs are covered by the State Department, and any artist called to entertain at the White House usually does so for free.

Restoration allowance

When a new president is elected, he is given $ 100,000 to renovate the White House at will. However, the President is free to refuse such funds if he so wishes. For example, when Obama took office, he did not take the restoration allowance. Instead, Obama chose to use his own money to restore the White House. When Trump took office in 2016, he was said to have spent $ 1.75 million to renovate the White House, buy new furniture and wall coverings for him, and it was unclear whether the taxpayer paid the cost or the president paid it from his personal account.

Will the US president earn any money after he leaves office?

The financial privileges of the US president do not end once he leaves office, and even after retirement, former presidents continue to receive many benefits.Under the former Presidents Act, any former president is entitled to a taxable pension for life. According to this law, this salary must be equal to the annual basic salary of heads of federal executive departments, such as members of the Council of Ministers. This amount is usually set by Congress. Currently, the presidential pension is $ 210,000 a year.

In addition, widows of former presidents are also entitled to a lifetime pension of $ 20,000 per year, and they have the right to waive this privilege if they wish.

Lifetime protection and medical attention

Former presidents and their wives are entitled to lifetime personal security protection after leaving office. If a former president dies, his surviving wife continues to benefit from the secret service until she marries another man. If the former first family has children, these children are entitled to protection until the age of 16. While former presidents and their dependents are entitled to protection, they may also refuse protection if they so wish. In addition to protecting the secret service, former presidents, as well as their wives, young children and widows, will continue to receive lifelong treatment in military hospitals.

Presidents refused to receive salaries from the government

Four presidents, so far, have not been paid by the government, including Trump, who is already wealthy. While he took office, his fortune was worth $ 3.1 billion, according to Forbes, which actually means a big drop from his net worth of $ 4.5 billion in 2015. During his election campaign, Trump announced he would be paid only $ 1. Because the Constitution requires him to get paid. After taking office, he donated his annual salary to various government departments.

Just like Trump, John F. Kennedy did. He was a very wealthy man when he took office in 1961, and his family's wealth was more than $ 1 billion by that time. For this, he did not need the presidential salary. During his tenure, he donated $ 100,000 to various charities, although he maintained an annual expenditure account of $ 50,000. Kennedy donated his entire salary throughout his 14 years in Congress.

When President Herbert Hoover took office in 1913, his fortune was estimated at $ 4 million, a huge sum by the standards of that time (about $ 103 million in today's accounts). When he took office, he donated part of his $ 75,000 salary to various charities, and gave part to his employees.

George Washington, the first American president, was very wealthy before he became president. During his days as a military commander he refused to receive a salary, claiming that serving the nation was a rewarding reward. He did not want to receive a salary if the Constitution did not require him to do so, and he donated his entire salary to charity. Translation: p-x About «The Guardian»

Other sources of income for former presidents

Regardless of the money the government provides them, former presidents have other sources of income related to their status as former presidents of the United States.

The biggest source of income is book writing deals, lectures, and speech events. For example, when he left office, former President Bill Clinton earned nearly $ 15 million in advance for his book My Life.

Apart from what he received from the book, he also received more than $ 75 million from his lectures.

He is said to have received $ 125,000 for a single speech to the Washington Executive Association, a record pay for a speech from a former president. After leaving office, George W. Bush authored Decision Points and earned $ 7 million from the sale of the first 1.5 million copies.

George Bush has also received about $ 15 million in speeches since he stepped down. Jimmy Carter has also been paid for 14 books he wrote when he left office.

Before becoming president, Barack Obama wrote a book called "My Father's Dreams." Initially, the book did not make much income, but sales continued to rise as politics rose, and when he ran for president, the book took a prominent place on the bookshelves.

The New York Times estimates that Obama and his wife Michelle will get between $ 20 million and $ 40 million in post-presidential book contracts. Translation: Time magazine