How Much Does The President Make?

Random Celebrity Article By Brian Warner on February 17, 2013

How much money does President make a year? When you compare the President's salary to equally famous movie stars and directors, he's not so much a POTUS as a POOR-TUS. By comparison, Mike Myers earns an estimated $55 million per year. Then again, Mike Myers doesn't get to live in the White House or have his finger on "the button"… (Thank God!) Also, don't forget book sales: Barack Obama is the author of two bestsellers, which is where he rakes in the big bucks. According to Barack and Michelle Obama's joint tax return in 2008, the couple earned $2.65 million dollars that year. But how much does the President make a year to lead our country? Keep reading to find out…

Presidential net worths:

President of the United States Salary:

President Barack Obama earns a base salary of $400,000 per year. He is also given a few nice bonuses like an annual expense account, a travel account and an entertainment stipend. These fringe benefits bring the President's total salary to over $550,000 each year. Has the president always been paid so little, considering the weight and responsibility of the job? Well, some decades are better than others. For example, back in the late 1700s, when America was young, the president's annual salary was $25,000. If you adjust $25,000 for inflation, that figure translates to about $560,000, which is approximately Obama's salary including the perks. By contrast, President Richard Nixon's salary in 1969 was $200,000, which is a little over $1 million dollars in today dollars. He may have claimed not to be a crook, but in presidential salary terms, he was a hustler. Still, that's nothing compared to President Theodore Roosevelt. The first Roosevelt earned a salary of $75,000 per year — in modern bucks, that's $1.7 million dollars. You could buy a lot of Teddy Bears with that kinda scratch.

How much does the President make?

Let's compare President Obama's net worth to other living presidents. Obama has a net worth of $11.8 million dollars. Former president George H. W. Bush is worth $15 million and his son George W. Bush is worth almost twice that amount at $26 mil. However, none of them are in the league of Bill Clinton, who is worth $80 million dollars! (I bet he's grateful Hillary never demanded a divorce!). Clinton's former Vice President's not doing bad either: Al Gore has a net worth of $100 million! Gore's Global Warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth and television net work Current TV made him a hot property. Still, if you're adding up the net worth of the living US presidents vs. the top earning actors who have played US presidents in movies or TV, the actors will win hands down. Martin Sheen (West Wing): $50 million. Stephen Colbert (Monsters vs. Aliens): $45 million. Harrison Ford (Air Force One): $200 million. If you're in the "presidential game" purely for salary, I would take a months-long superstar movie gig over 4 years on the government payroll.

However, we should remember that Barack Obama is relatively young. He has many years to write more books, serve on the advisory boards for corporations and accept lucrative speaking engagements Clinton currently earns $250,000 per speech! So what do you think? Is the President underpaid? If Mitt Romney is elected should he accept a salary? Considering he has a net worth of $250 million!?

Brian Warner

Prior to launching Celebrity Net Worth, Brian spent seven years as the Managing Editor of one of the largest entertainment portals on the internet. Before that, Brian attended Georgetown University where he double majored in finance and marketing. A native of Northern California, Brian currently resides in Los Angeles. Follow him on Google+.

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