US presidents enjoy many privileges and benefits even after leaving the White House.

Now the annual salary of the US president is $ 400,000. Over the entire existence of the presidency, the salary has been reviewed only five times, Voice of America reported.

The first president, George Washington, elected in 1789, and the next 17 heads of state received $ 25,000 a year. The first increase took place only in 1873, when the presidential salary was doubled, to 50,000, while in 1909, Congress approved a new increase - up to $ 75,000 a year.

After President Harry Truman was re-elected for a second term in 1949, his salary rose to $ 100,000. After 20 years, this amount has doubled: Richard Nixon, elected in 1969, became the first president with a salary of $ 200,000. The current salary was approved in 2001 after the election of George W. Bush.

After leaving office, presidents are receiving $ 213,600 per year until the end of their lives.

The federal budget also compensates the ex-presidents for their business expenses - business trips and office maintenance.

During the first 30 months after leaving the White House, the ex-president can hire employees to his office, and their salary will be paid from the federal budget - the salary fund limit is set at $ 150,000 per year. Then this amount is reduced to $ 96,000.

Since 2000, almost $ 68 million has been spent from the pocket of taxpayers on the maintenance of ex-presidents, excluding security costs, according to the National Union of Taxpayers.

Bill Clinton, who has received $ 21 million from the treasury since 2000, was the most expensive to the budget. At the same time, Clinton’s personal fortune is estimated at over $ 70 million. After leaving the White House, Barack Obama receives $ 1.4 million annually in compensation, and George W. Bush receives $ 1.2 million a year. Both ex-presidents have multimillion-dollar fortunes.

Brady believes that such generous payments are essentially subsidies to millionaires: all former presidents make good money speaking at conferences, publishing books, and doing other business projects.

An attempt to limit the amount of compensation for ex-presidents to $ 200,000 a year was already made in 2016, but Barack Obama vetoed the bill. In May, another bill was introduced to Congress aimed at limiting benefits for ex-presidents. This document is still being considered in specialized committees of the Congress.

The US President is far from the most profitable position in comparison with the leaders of other states. The highest-paid president in the world is the leader of Singapore as every year he receives a salary of over $ 1.4 million. The top five also includes the rulers of Iraq ($ 809,673), Cameroon ($ 620,976), Hong Kong ($ 568,400) and Austria ($ 410,000). The President of Ireland receives $ 1,000 more than the US President - $ 401,000.

However, the absolute record belongs to the king of Saudi Arabia - according to the Middle East Eye, King Salman receives a monthly salary of $ 800 million per month - that is, $ 9.6 billion per year.