1
00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,800
Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how

2
00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:13,800
Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.

3
00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,480
Speaker 1: I'm editor kandas Keener, joined by staff writer Jane mccreant. Hey. There,

4
00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,160
Speaker 1: candas Hey, Jane. I wanted to bring our listeners up

5
00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:24,480
Speaker 1: to speed about a special fact about you they might

6
00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,960
Speaker 1: not be aware of. And that's that's in addition to

7
00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:32,159
Speaker 1: being a very fabulous history writer, Jane is also the

8
00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:36,840
Speaker 1: website's resident money writer, and so she wrote this article

9
00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,839
Speaker 1: that's technically for our money channel of the website, but

10
00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:44,479
Speaker 1: it has such strong history overtones or undertones, I'm not

11
00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,360
Speaker 1: sure anyway to lose very strongly to history in fact

12
00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,320
Speaker 1: that we thought you all might be interested in, so

13
00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:53,199
Speaker 1: we decided to hijack it and presented to you today. Yeah,

14
00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:55,800
Speaker 1: it's a really cool subject and pretty fun because it's

15
00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:57,720
Speaker 1: it's fun to imagine what life would be like as

16
00:00:57,760 --> 00:00:59,920
Speaker 1: a president, you know, even though they have probably the

17
00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,360
Speaker 1: most stressful job in the world. It's uh, it's really

18
00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,840
Speaker 1: fascinating to delve into all of these special perks and

19
00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,039
Speaker 1: and extras that they get just by virtue of being

20
00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,040
Speaker 1: the chief executive in the United States. And it's pretty

21
00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:17,400
Speaker 1: controversial some of these big financial perks that the president gets, because,

22
00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:19,520
Speaker 1: as you know, if you've been keeping up with the news,

23
00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,280
Speaker 1: the Obama administration has really been cracking down on people

24
00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:25,800
Speaker 1: from Wall Street and perks that people in the financial

25
00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,800
Speaker 1: sector have been getting, and many of them have been

26
00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,280
Speaker 1: uh lashing back at the president and saying, you know,

27
00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:34,559
Speaker 1: you get a lot of perks too, and what's more,

28
00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:37,560
Speaker 1: yours are tax free. So who are you to say

29
00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:40,319
Speaker 1: what we can and cannot have? You know, you can

30
00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,880
Speaker 1: have to salary. The president's salary is capped by nature

31
00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,200
Speaker 1: of you know, the law, but he gets plenty of

32
00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:47,960
Speaker 1: things on the side that has some people pretty worked up.

33
00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:50,000
Speaker 1: He doesn't even need a salary for all these other

34
00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:52,080
Speaker 1: things that he gets. And to presidents in history have

35
00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,480
Speaker 1: actually refused salary. Do you know who they are? George

36
00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,920
Speaker 1: Washington and DFK. I mean JFK attends of family money.

37
00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,840
Speaker 1: So that's true, understand, But George Washington, that was pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah,

38
00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:05,720
Speaker 1: So I guess I'd kick it off with the White House,

39
00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:08,760
Speaker 1: which is probably the most obvious of the presidential perks.

40
00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:11,000
Speaker 1: All in all, there's about a hundred and thirty two

41
00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,519
Speaker 1: rooms in the residential White House and in thirty five bathrooms.

42
00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,800
Speaker 1: In addition to the standards of the swimming pool and

43
00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:21,800
Speaker 1: the tennis chords and basketball courts, you've got the jogging

44
00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,959
Speaker 1: track and the punning green, which just owns so much fun.

45
00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,600
Speaker 1: And yeah, the real estate ad really writes itself, but

46
00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:32,200
Speaker 1: it's off the market, you guys. And in addition to UM,

47
00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:36,639
Speaker 1: the pursuits for active presidents and first families, if you're

48
00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:39,320
Speaker 1: a little bit more sedentary, well, uh, that's working in

49
00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:41,760
Speaker 1: your favorite too, because there are at least five chefs

50
00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,240
Speaker 1: in the White House, including a full time pastry chef.

51
00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,040
Speaker 1: And if you are an appreciator of fine arts, you'd

52
00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:51,840
Speaker 1: be happy to know that the President can request different

53
00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,120
Speaker 1: works of art to be brought in from the National

54
00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,840
Speaker 1: Gallery on loan. And I actually have a personal anecdote

55
00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,080
Speaker 1: about this. Um. You may not be surprised to know

56
00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:02,720
Speaker 1: that I have people and I got to go on

57
00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:04,680
Speaker 1: a very behind the scenes tour of the White House

58
00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,000
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, during which I saw the

59
00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,720
Speaker 1: White House Kitten, which is much much smaller than you

60
00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:12,160
Speaker 1: may have thought. Yeah, I've seen pictures. Actually it did

61
00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,520
Speaker 1: seem small from the picture day. And I saw the

62
00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,440
Speaker 1: florist and I got to meet the resident flourish there

63
00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:19,960
Speaker 1: as well as George Bush's cat. That was pretty cool.

64
00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,880
Speaker 1: And um, the point of the story is about works

65
00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,880
Speaker 1: of art because my source told me that during the

66
00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:33,240
Speaker 1: Clinton administration, Hillary Radham Clinton was a very active art

67
00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,760
Speaker 1: enthusiast and she very much enjoyed swopping out the different

68
00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:38,520
Speaker 1: works of art. And one time she wanted a very

69
00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,400
Speaker 1: heavy and unwieldy piece of sculpture brought into one of

70
00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:43,800
Speaker 1: the gardens and it was a huge production to get

71
00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,280
Speaker 1: this thing put down safely. And of course the curator

72
00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,200
Speaker 1: was there, you know, fretting back and forth the whole

73
00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,600
Speaker 1: time that something would happen. But it was put into place,

74
00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,080
Speaker 1: and I think it was taken out undamaged, unscathed. So

75
00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:56,840
Speaker 1: funny story about that. Only if you are president and

76
00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:59,200
Speaker 1: first lady can you command a huge, unwieldy piece of

77
00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,440
Speaker 1: sculpture to be put And yeah, that's awesome. And that's

78
00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,760
Speaker 1: in addition to the super expensive fancy furniture that they

79
00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:07,960
Speaker 1: get it as well. Right, Yeah, in the White House

80
00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,280
Speaker 1: they get a hundred thousand dollars to redecorate the White House.

81
00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,280
Speaker 1: And as you may know from reading my blog. The

82
00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:17,480
Speaker 1: Obama is elected not to take that and to use

83
00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:20,599
Speaker 1: their own money to redecorate. But in addition to that money,

84
00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,880
Speaker 1: the president also gets to choose from an array of

85
00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,160
Speaker 1: historical desks that have been used by other presidents. So

86
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,200
Speaker 1: you know, for instance, someone could use the desk that

87
00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:34,159
Speaker 1: Lincoln had years Yeah, I think about all the historical

88
00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,120
Speaker 1: documents that were signed on that thing, all the different

89
00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:41,880
Speaker 1: speeches written, Emancipatient Proclamation and um all manner of rugs.

90
00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:44,839
Speaker 1: I heard that the rugs are just stacked right on

91
00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:46,719
Speaker 1: top of each other, and they're so heavy they have

92
00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:48,919
Speaker 1: to get huge machines and to lift them up. So

93
00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:54,039
Speaker 1: that there recently about changes that Obama made, especially the

94
00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,280
Speaker 1: Oval Office. I guess he took out a bust of

95
00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:00,360
Speaker 1: Winston Churchill and he did he bring in a new uggers.

96
00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,760
Speaker 1: I remember talking about the rugs and in the Oval

97
00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:07,479
Speaker 1: Office there's some talk about that. But in terms of money, uh,

98
00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,520
Speaker 1: you mentioned the floor is the flowers alone? One source

99
00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,000
Speaker 1: I found said that they cost about more more than

100
00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,279
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty thousand per year. That's wild. Yeah,

101
00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:20,200
Speaker 1: and upkeep alone for the entire White House is about

102
00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:23,440
Speaker 1: four million a year. So it's a it's a sweet

103
00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:26,480
Speaker 1: pad they've got there. It definitely is. So if you've

104
00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:30,080
Speaker 1: got a great house, the next obvious park would be

105
00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:34,880
Speaker 1: great modes plural of transportation. We're talking about the presidential limo,

106
00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,880
Speaker 1: the two Boeing seven forty seven's air Force one and

107
00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:43,440
Speaker 1: Marine one. Yeah, and air Force one. It's kind of

108
00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:48,279
Speaker 1: weird because technically whatever plane the president is on is

109
00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:51,279
Speaker 1: referred to as air Force one as the radio call name.

110
00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,120
Speaker 1: But you know, in common parlance, you know, we talk

111
00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:58,160
Speaker 1: about our Force one specifically talking about these really awesome planes,

112
00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,280
Speaker 1: the Boeing seven three sevens that you mentioned, and there

113
00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:04,000
Speaker 1: are two of them actually, and I think sometimes when

114
00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,000
Speaker 1: they take when they take the president out, one acts

115
00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,800
Speaker 1: like a decoy, partly to carry cargo and partly to

116
00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:11,520
Speaker 1: carry staff, which that kind of sucks to be a

117
00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,640
Speaker 1: decoy and to be flying on a decoy as a

118
00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,760
Speaker 1: as a staff member. But anyway, the Air Force one

119
00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,880
Speaker 1: plane that we're talking about carry up to seven d passengers,

120
00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,920
Speaker 1: which is not including the twenty six person crew. And uh,

121
00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,200
Speaker 1: there are areas special areas for the staff, even media

122
00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,839
Speaker 1: and security of course, and president has his own workout room,

123
00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,640
Speaker 1: isn't that nice wild yeah. Um, in addition to a

124
00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:40,560
Speaker 1: really nice office and bathroom and bedroom even can you

125
00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:43,120
Speaker 1: imagine having a bedroom on a plane this awesome? Um,

126
00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,880
Speaker 1: and like is really really excited about this. I think

127
00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,840
Speaker 1: to your presidential perks is that medieval tortures. Today we

128
00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,560
Speaker 1: both have our own little areas of fancy only four cents.

129
00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:57,440
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, UM, so you have say this is what

130
00:06:57,480 --> 00:06:59,280
Speaker 1: we're talking about. The middle level level of the plan.

131
00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:01,479
Speaker 1: There's actually malt will levels. The upper level you have

132
00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:05,920
Speaker 1: the cockpit, the telecommunications um center, and on the bottom

133
00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,160
Speaker 1: levels for cargo. But you don't really need a whole

134
00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,400
Speaker 1: lot of space for cargo because there are other special

135
00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:17,440
Speaker 1: planes c one one Star lifter cargo planes that carry

136
00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:22,200
Speaker 1: actually the motorcade of the president, and they send the limos,

137
00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:26,000
Speaker 1: the armored limos to wherever the president is headed, including

138
00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:30,160
Speaker 1: places like Perk number three, Camp David, which is the

139
00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:33,800
Speaker 1: super private getaway of the president. And when it was

140
00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:37,520
Speaker 1: originally built, I think it cost only what dollars to

141
00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,640
Speaker 1: belt so much, but it's been renovated so much and

142
00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,680
Speaker 1: it's such a nice relaxing place. And it's the fact

143
00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,080
Speaker 1: that it's ultra scure, like it's got super super um

144
00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,320
Speaker 1: strong security and ultra clothes. It's only an hour's drive

145
00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:53,840
Speaker 1: from d C. Not that he needs to drive, though

146
00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,480
Speaker 1: he takes he takes the helicopter. The helicopter. And it

147
00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:01,040
Speaker 1: was renamed Camp David during the I and Howard administration,

148
00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,400
Speaker 1: and that was after his grandson, which I think is

149
00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:05,760
Speaker 1: incredibly straight. That's that's really cute. But I don't know.

150
00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:10,880
Speaker 1: I like the first name law named after the Tibetan

151
00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,160
Speaker 1: utopia in the book Lost to Horizon and am right.

152
00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:19,560
Speaker 1: That's right. Um. It's got eleven different cabins, a pool,

153
00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:24,560
Speaker 1: its own skeet shooting range, and its own private office

154
00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,400
Speaker 1: cabin so the president can get some work done. So

155
00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:30,120
Speaker 1: even though it's kind of a relaxing place to go there,

156
00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,320
Speaker 1: it's still a place of business. And you probably remember it, um.

157
00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:36,640
Speaker 1: It's most known for when President Carter used Camp David

158
00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:39,960
Speaker 1: as a place for peace talks between the Egyptian president

159
00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,360
Speaker 1: and the Israeli Prime minister in seventy eight. And what's

160
00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,360
Speaker 1: interesting about Camp David is that, unlike the White House

161
00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,079
Speaker 1: you mentioned, you had a behind the scenes tour of that.

162
00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:52,320
Speaker 1: That's that's awesome. But Camp David is completely closed to

163
00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:54,839
Speaker 1: the public. Like, well, I hate to break it to you,

164
00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:57,679
Speaker 1: but now you're right, okay. I was like, oh, I

165
00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:02,280
Speaker 1: read authority, So yeah, this it's weird that, unlike the

166
00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,600
Speaker 1: White House, it's closed the public. It's even more secure

167
00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:06,600
Speaker 1: than the White House in that way. And it's nice

168
00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:08,880
Speaker 1: also because it's on top of a mountain, and so

169
00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:11,240
Speaker 1: growing up in d C. I know how hot that

170
00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,120
Speaker 1: city can get, and so you have much I think

171
00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,160
Speaker 1: about ten degrees cooler temperatures up up on top of

172
00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,480
Speaker 1: that mountain at Camp David. And in addition to all

173
00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,000
Speaker 1: of these wonderful perks that the president gets to enjoy

174
00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,440
Speaker 1: while he's in office, other little ones being things like

175
00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,160
Speaker 1: having your family around the office. You know they live there.

176
00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:31,240
Speaker 1: It's also your office. It's nice you know, your your

177
00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:33,760
Speaker 1: kids come in and just say, hey, Dad, how's it going. Yeah,

178
00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,559
Speaker 1: I know. I like working from home, flexible work hours.

179
00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,600
Speaker 1: As we know during the George W. Bush administration, he

180
00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:41,840
Speaker 1: liked to get in early, take a little break to

181
00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:43,960
Speaker 1: go work out, and then come back. And I think

182
00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,840
Speaker 1: Reagan was pretty famous for actually taking naps during the

183
00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:49,160
Speaker 1: work day, which is a luxury we do not have

184
00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:52,200
Speaker 1: yet around the house. Stuff works office, but fingers crossed,

185
00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,520
Speaker 1: you also get I smell a petition, you get free

186
00:09:56,559 --> 00:09:58,840
Speaker 1: soda from Pepsi and Coke, and like I mentioned before,

187
00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:03,240
Speaker 1: a complimentary emine isn't that nice. So in addition to

188
00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:05,800
Speaker 1: all these little perks you get while you're in office,

189
00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:08,360
Speaker 1: you may be happy to know too that the president

190
00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,760
Speaker 1: is taken care of after he leaves office. And since

191
00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,640
Speaker 1: ninety eight, all presidents have gotten a pension. And this

192
00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,319
Speaker 1: is particularly happy news for people like poor Thomas Jefferson, who,

193
00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,600
Speaker 1: as you may recall from the Monticello podcast, actually died

194
00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:25,439
Speaker 1: more than one hundred thousand dollars in debt, and he

195
00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:27,680
Speaker 1: would have been in luck had he had a much

196
00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:31,840
Speaker 1: later administration, because as of March two thousand eight, the

197
00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:36,880
Speaker 1: pension was one thousand, three hundred dollars annually, not too shabby.

198
00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:42,360
Speaker 1: In addition to a staff, an office, office supplies, and

199
00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:46,720
Speaker 1: Janie you pointed out the ex presidents also get phone services. Yeah. Yeah,

200
00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:50,080
Speaker 1: they get all the extra perks for for their office. Um.

201
00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:54,160
Speaker 1: And it's interesting you mentioned Thomas Jefferson because back when

202
00:10:54,240 --> 00:11:00,640
Speaker 1: one was researching first Ladies Um Dolly medicine, actually died

203
00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:03,520
Speaker 1: pretty poor. Because I think one of her relatives after

204
00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:07,480
Speaker 1: after James Madison died, after her relatives kind of squandered

205
00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:09,840
Speaker 1: her money and and she died pretty poor. Which is

206
00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:12,760
Speaker 1: now widows are more or less taken care of as

207
00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,360
Speaker 1: well if they want to be. It's interesting the wives

208
00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:19,160
Speaker 1: or the spouses of ex presidents also get benefits. They

209
00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:22,040
Speaker 1: they get a pension if they want to. But a

210
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,560
Speaker 1: caveat to that is that they have to waive the

211
00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:28,400
Speaker 1: right to any annuity or pension under any other legislation.

212
00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:33,439
Speaker 1: And um really uh this became um an issue for

213
00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:35,640
Speaker 1: Nancy Reagan and Betty four. They didn't want to waive

214
00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,440
Speaker 1: this right, so they actually didn't get that pension. But

215
00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,160
Speaker 1: um lb J's widow did until she died just recently

216
00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,320
Speaker 1: in two thousand seven. UM. And what's interesting, um. Another

217
00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:49,160
Speaker 1: point about the wives of ex presidents is Hillary Clinton

218
00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,040
Speaker 1: is an interesting situation because she's in addition to being

219
00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:54,560
Speaker 1: a spouse of a former president, she's a senator now

220
00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:58,600
Speaker 1: or she just was um before being Secretary of State.

221
00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:03,680
Speaker 1: She while she was senator got protection shared by the

222
00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:07,840
Speaker 1: US Capital Police, who usually handle the senators, and the

223
00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:11,200
Speaker 1: Secret Service, who usually handled the spouses of ex presidents.

224
00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:13,720
Speaker 1: So it's just interesting to see how widows are handled,

225
00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:15,840
Speaker 1: especially when they take on more roles. And you think

226
00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:19,880
Speaker 1: that this may be superfluous, but our country has no monarchy.

227
00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:23,440
Speaker 1: We obviously have no royal members of a family to

228
00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:25,960
Speaker 1: take care of, and the president and his wife would

229
00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:28,400
Speaker 1: be the closest thing to royalty that we have. And

230
00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:32,480
Speaker 1: to consider how much a president, even an unpopular president,

231
00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:36,920
Speaker 1: puts into his office, you wouldn't want to think of

232
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,040
Speaker 1: him or his widow living in squalor. Yeah, that's true,

233
00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:43,520
Speaker 1: and you want them to be able to focus, you know,

234
00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:45,400
Speaker 1: on the job that they were hired to do. And

235
00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:48,320
Speaker 1: what's more, even after the President and the First Lady

236
00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:51,120
Speaker 1: leave the White House, their names continue to carry a

237
00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,080
Speaker 1: lot of power, and as we mentioned in the First

238
00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:56,840
Speaker 1: Lady podcast, they can attach their names to many different

239
00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:59,760
Speaker 1: causes and really continue to make a difference out of office.

240
00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:03,160
Speaker 1: And President Jimmy Carter even famously said that he's made

241
00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:05,520
Speaker 1: a bigger difference out of office than he ever did

242
00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:08,960
Speaker 1: as president. And if you don't know, uh, Jimmy Carter

243
00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,240
Speaker 1: and Roslin Carter are very active at the Carter Center

244
00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,960
Speaker 1: and they're still working very hard as philanthropists and making

245
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,440
Speaker 1: people aware of different UH causes around the world, like

246
00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:21,480
Speaker 1: like free voting rights and UM Guinea warm eradication. So

247
00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:24,840
Speaker 1: it's important that the president is given the tools that

248
00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:28,079
Speaker 1: he needs to continue his work. Definitely. And another interesting

249
00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:30,240
Speaker 1: part about being a former president is that they usually

250
00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:34,920
Speaker 1: get a presidential library. UM, and every president except for

251
00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:38,800
Speaker 1: Nixon since Herbert Hoover has gotten his own library, and

252
00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,560
Speaker 1: recently George W. Bush has gotten some press because he's

253
00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,600
Speaker 1: made UM a lot of money really quickly. And UM

254
00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:47,760
Speaker 1: he made more than a hundred million for the library

255
00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,200
Speaker 1: in the first one hundred days after after he left office,

256
00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:53,800
Speaker 1: which is you know, a record setting pays and his

257
00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:58,559
Speaker 1: library scheduled to open. UH. So you have this library

258
00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:01,960
Speaker 1: which is raised by private phone, but the archivist actually

259
00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:04,720
Speaker 1: gives the president's official records and papers over to this

260
00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:09,040
Speaker 1: library and manages it for him or her. One interesting

261
00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:14,440
Speaker 1: thing that I found researching the retirement perks is, like

262
00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,400
Speaker 1: you mentioned, Candice, this didn't start the form presidents and

263
00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,560
Speaker 1: start getting UH perks until nineteen fifty eight. And back

264
00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,760
Speaker 1: in nineteen twelve there was talk about giving them perks

265
00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,800
Speaker 1: because Andrew Carnegie actually said that he wanted to start

266
00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,800
Speaker 1: giving a pension to these former presidents, which sounds really nice,

267
00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:35,400
Speaker 1: but Congress found this kind of inappropriate coming from a

268
00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:39,800
Speaker 1: private donor. Yeah, you can see a sort of um,

269
00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:44,040
Speaker 1: you know, mixed motivations there, maybe, but um So Congress

270
00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:45,720
Speaker 1: was like, no, we don't want that, and so they

271
00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:50,400
Speaker 1: introduced legislation to start giving them a pension, but that died,

272
00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:53,120
Speaker 1: so they weren't ready to do it either. So unfortunately

273
00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:56,480
Speaker 1: it went another about four decades. Finally in the fifties,

274
00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:01,640
Speaker 1: poor Truman was suffering. He's struggling to pay and higher staff,

275
00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:05,280
Speaker 1: so Congress finally passed that legislation in fifty eight, thank goodness.

276
00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:08,400
Speaker 1: And another perk, if you can call it a perk,

277
00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,360
Speaker 1: is that when former presidents die, their funerals are paid

278
00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,520
Speaker 1: for and they get a very grand state funeral, which

279
00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,080
Speaker 1: at least takes the burden off of the family dies,

280
00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:21,800
Speaker 1: which is very important. And prior to their deaths, they

281
00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,680
Speaker 1: receive medical treatment at military hospitals, and they continue to

282
00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:28,160
Speaker 1: have security parks throughout their golden years. So as you

283
00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:31,000
Speaker 1: can see, there are definitely a lot of advantages to

284
00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:33,360
Speaker 1: being president of the United States. You get the four

285
00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:38,120
Speaker 1: thousand dollar year salary, your hundred thousand dollars in expenses

286
00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:42,280
Speaker 1: and a very hefty entertainment account that is renewed annually.

287
00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,040
Speaker 1: But I believe that whatever you don't knew that the

288
00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,480
Speaker 1: end of the year goes back into the funds. So

289
00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,720
Speaker 1: what is there not to love about being presidents? Well,

290
00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:55,400
Speaker 1: for one, you become a little out of touch with

291
00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:58,840
Speaker 1: the world sometimes, I thinks, of course, depends on the president.

292
00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,440
Speaker 1: I think some presidents are more in touch than others.

293
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,400
Speaker 1: Although I will say I don't believe Bill Clinton jogged

294
00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:06,760
Speaker 1: McDonald's too much towards the end of this time. I

295
00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:09,440
Speaker 1: think that was just in the very beginning. But um

296
00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:12,400
Speaker 1: And Rogers, who was Deputy Assistant to the President and

297
00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:15,760
Speaker 1: executive Assistant to the White House Chief of Staff during

298
00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:20,000
Speaker 1: the George H. W. Bush administration, told a little anecdote

299
00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,600
Speaker 1: about going to McDonald's once when he was traveling with

300
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:26,200
Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan and apparently someone gave Reagan a fifty dollar

301
00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:28,760
Speaker 1: bill to pay for lunch, and Ed Rogers said, if

302
00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:31,120
Speaker 1: he looked like you didn't know what to do with it, really,

303
00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,000
Speaker 1: And if you're president and you have this expense account

304
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,240
Speaker 1: and everything is being done for you, I can imagine

305
00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:38,360
Speaker 1: that you know, things like that would be unsettling when

306
00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:43,239
Speaker 1: you're a common person again or you're thrust into the world. Um,

307
00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:45,920
Speaker 1: but presidents do you have to pay for stuff. They

308
00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:48,720
Speaker 1: may have white house chefs, but presidents have to pay

309
00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:51,080
Speaker 1: for the groceries. They have to pay for their personal

310
00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,800
Speaker 1: care items. So you can request anything you want cooked.

311
00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:56,400
Speaker 1: But if you haven't actually footed the bill at the

312
00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:00,200
Speaker 1: grocery store, it's not going to happen. And and other

313
00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,440
Speaker 1: downside to being president, the anti perks, if you will,

314
00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:06,960
Speaker 1: is that everyone has an opinion about what you do.

315
00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,720
Speaker 1: And I think with the Obama administration, even so early

316
00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,399
Speaker 1: in the game, this has been a huge deal. And

317
00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:15,480
Speaker 1: I think that the American public, and not even just

318
00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,640
Speaker 1: the American public, maybe the international public, has been very

319
00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:23,800
Speaker 1: nitpicky about this family. For instance, um, the dog Little

320
00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:26,879
Speaker 1: Bou Obama. Before Beau Obama came to be, there was

321
00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,640
Speaker 1: much debate about whether the Obamas would get a pure

322
00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,119
Speaker 1: bred dog, whether they should adopt one, and as you recall,

323
00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:36,720
Speaker 1: they had special concerns about their daughter's health since she

324
00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,239
Speaker 1: had allergies to dogs. It was very important that they

325
00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:42,560
Speaker 1: got one that was you know, I think we're allergy

326
00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:46,600
Speaker 1: friendly And a story that really piqued my interest since

327
00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:50,160
Speaker 1: I'm interested in fashion and style was Oscar de Laurenta

328
00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,600
Speaker 1: getting onto MSUs Obama for some of her choices of attire,

329
00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:56,640
Speaker 1: wanting to see her wearing more American designers and nitpicking

330
00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:59,720
Speaker 1: the items that she had chosen. And he even commented,

331
00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,840
Speaker 1: you don't go to Buckingham Palace and a sweater, because

332
00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,320
Speaker 1: she did. She had on a little stylish card. Again,

333
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,199
Speaker 1: so bearing that sort of criticism is pretty rough. And

334
00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,679
Speaker 1: in addition to that, I mean, like one of the

335
00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,280
Speaker 1: parks we alluded to earlier was the Marine one helicopter,

336
00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:20,080
Speaker 1: and you know that started the controversy because it ended

337
00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:22,639
Speaker 1: up being much more expensive than it originally was thought

338
00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:24,359
Speaker 1: to be. And this, of course with this program was

339
00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,800
Speaker 1: started too before Obama came in, So during when he

340
00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:30,000
Speaker 1: was campaigning and he heard how expensive it was getting,

341
00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:31,679
Speaker 1: he was like, oh, we need to take a closer

342
00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,639
Speaker 1: look at that. And it's tough because he's he's inherited

343
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:38,080
Speaker 1: all these super expensive things, and like is it worth

344
00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:41,720
Speaker 1: it for security? And and she was it worth stopping

345
00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:43,760
Speaker 1: a program? Like that's a waste of money for all

346
00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:45,840
Speaker 1: this money that's gone into it. You know, it's sort

347
00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:47,480
Speaker 1: of a darned if you do and darned if you

348
00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:51,000
Speaker 1: don't situation. And as you may recall, Alice Waters was

349
00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:54,560
Speaker 1: being very vocal about the Obama's choice of White House

350
00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,399
Speaker 1: chaff and encouraging them to have an organic vegetable garden

351
00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:01,040
Speaker 1: on the White House property and even trying to make

352
00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:05,479
Speaker 1: recommendations about the Secretary of Agriculture and UM. One of

353
00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,760
Speaker 1: our our bloggers here, Sarah Dowdy, who's our our green editor,

354
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,360
Speaker 1: blogged about Mrs Obama having planned a garden and now

355
00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:14,760
Speaker 1: always well and good. Maybe she was able to uh

356
00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:18,960
Speaker 1: appease Alice Waters and her camp of followers, and then

357
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,760
Speaker 1: not too long ago she was actually petitioned by the

358
00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:27,760
Speaker 1: Mid America Crop Life Association to put fertilizer and pesticides

359
00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:31,240
Speaker 1: on her organic garden. So you can't really win something

360
00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,320
Speaker 1: if your president or first lading. It's a job, definitely. So,

361
00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:37,840
Speaker 1: as you were saying, some of these parks may seem

362
00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,200
Speaker 1: like luxuries, but other ones, like security, for instance, are

363
00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:45,159
Speaker 1: just necessities, and some presidents have actually wanted to or

364
00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:48,760
Speaker 1: at least dependence have wanted to opt out of the security.

365
00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,080
Speaker 1: You can imagine, um, how awkward it is to go

366
00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,920
Speaker 1: around everywhere with security guards, the disadvantages of that sort

367
00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:58,760
Speaker 1: of perk, And it wasn't until eighty four that the

368
00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:02,000
Speaker 1: law was passed to UM to allow the President and

369
00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:05,400
Speaker 1: his dependence to opt out of that security, which is interesting.

370
00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:08,600
Speaker 1: And when people leave the House Stuff Works Office, we

371
00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:12,560
Speaker 1: actually offer security detail for our more notable workers here,

372
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,359
Speaker 1: like our bloggers and our podcasters. And it used to

373
00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:17,560
Speaker 1: be that Marshall Brain did that, but he's been keeping

374
00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,120
Speaker 1: really busy, so now our producer Jerry Rowland follows people

375
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,639
Speaker 1: around and sharing that they're safe from the masses of

376
00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:28,520
Speaker 1: adoring fans and and full creepy. Honestly, it really is.

377
00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:31,520
Speaker 1: So my question is, Jane, what do you think about that?

378
00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:34,520
Speaker 1: I'm not so sure. It actually turns out that, uh,

379
00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:36,879
Speaker 1: I'll have to face that decision soon because I'm actually

380
00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:39,920
Speaker 1: leaving the House Stuff Works office. I'll be moving out

381
00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,120
Speaker 1: of the area and sadly leaving behind all my colleagues

382
00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:47,000
Speaker 1: and Ukandice and I will cry. I'll cry too, and

383
00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:51,760
Speaker 1: you can't see tears through your your headphones this podcast.

384
00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,040
Speaker 1: But you should know that Jane has been such an

385
00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:57,879
Speaker 1: important and significant addition to the Stuff You Missed in

386
00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:01,000
Speaker 1: History Class podcast. It's a totally differ creature now than

387
00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:04,960
Speaker 1: when it first started almost a year ago, and I

388
00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:10,280
Speaker 1: really appreciate the quiet, dignity and intelligent conversation she's brought,

389
00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,400
Speaker 1: and especially all of her facts about the Crusades and

390
00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:19,959
Speaker 1: the history of the Catholic Church. She's really it's been

391
00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,639
Speaker 1: it's been a joy being able to record with you, Candice.

392
00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:28,000
Speaker 1: You're always effervescent and uh uh, you make history really exciting.

393
00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:31,280
Speaker 1: Even when I might dry interpretation, See, you're able to

394
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:34,680
Speaker 1: spend it something happy and fun. I wouldn't call it dry.

395
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,119
Speaker 1: Dane has promised that she'll continue listening to the podcast,

396
00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,560
Speaker 1: and I certainly hope that, even though there will be

397
00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,760
Speaker 1: a notable absence here, that all of you will continue

398
00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,480
Speaker 1: doing the same and until next time. You can read

399
00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:50,080
Speaker 1: more about presidential perks and other great presidential history on

400
00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:57,040
Speaker 1: the website at how stuff works dot com. For more

401
00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:59,359
Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics, is that how

402
00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,480
Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Let us know what you think,

403
00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:06,200
Speaker 1: Send an email to podcast at how stuff works dot com,

404
00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:07,960
Speaker 1: and be sure to check out this Stuff you Missed

405
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,240
Speaker 1: in History Class blog on the how stuff works dot

406
00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:16,080
Speaker 1: com on page m