Sheri Price, age 11, of Costa Mesa, Calif. for her question:
HOW MUCH DOES THE PRESIDENT EARN EACH YEAR?
Here are some interesting presidential facts: Tyler was the President with the most children, 15. Our largest President was Taft, who stood 6 feet tall and weighed more than 300 pounds. Kennedy, at 46, was the President who died at the youngest age, while former Presidents Hoover and John Adams both lived past the age of 90. Wilson was the first to speak on radio. It is said that President Chester Arthur loved leisure and would only work four days each week while in office. He would begin each day at 10 a.m. and always scheduled three hours off for lunch.
Modern Presidents almost never escape their job. Often they are greeted at dawn with a large stack of reports, and end each day after more than a dozen hours of hard work with additional files of paper work.
No amount of salary could adequately reward the President of the United States for the tremendous responsibilities of his position. But he does indeed receive a paycheck like all other salaried people.
Recently Congress decided that the President should receive a salary of $400,000 a year. In addition he is given a $50,000 annual expense allowance and another travel allowance not to exceed $40,000.
We can see the changing value of money by noting what Presidents in the past received. The first Congress fixed the President's salary at $25,000 a year, which was a lot of money in 1789. He received a raise in salary to $50,000 in 1873 and picked up an authorized travel expense of $25,000 in 1906.
The presidential pay was increased to $75,000 a year in 1909 with travel money going up to $40,000 in 1948. In 1949 the salary was increased to $100,000 with $50,000 for expenses.
When a President leaves office, he is given a pension of $60,000 per year. In addition to this, he receives an allowance for clerical help, office space and for free mailing privileges.
A President's widow receives a yearly pension of $20,000.
Two ex Presidents ran again for the Presidency: Grover Cleveland and Theodore Roosevelt. Cleveland won a second term in 1892 after having served a first term from 1885 to 1889.
Roosevelt lost in his bid to return to the White House. After retiring from the Presidency, John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives and William Howard Taft became chief justice of the Supreme Court.
To be President, a person must be a natural born U.S. citizen. He must be at least 35 years old and must have lived in the United States for at least 14 years. Authorities assume ''natural born'' applies to citizens born in the United States and its territories as well as to children born to U.S. citizens in other countries.