Well, It’s a Pretty Big Job

The last time a president’s pay was raised was 1969, for Richard Nixon at the start of his first term. The increase, approved earlier by Congress, doubled the president’s salary to $200,000. Since then congressionally approved cost-of-living raises have lifted other federal salaries, among them those of the vice president, the chief justice and the speaker of the House. All three now make just $24,600 a year less than the president. One specialist in executive compensation calculates that had the president’s salary been adjusted annually for inflation it would be $923,000 today. No one suggests the next president should be paid that--and the salary of a sitting president can’t be raised or lowered anyway--but Congress is mulling a proposal for a raise to $400,000. We think it should be approved.

Many disagree, of course. Gary Buskin of the Congressional Accountability Project argues that a “high presidential compensation package erodes the president’s moral authority to govern.” Our impression had been that a president’s moral authority derived more from the content of his character than the size of his paycheck. If there is indeed a correlation between what a president makes and his moral influence, then presumably a chief executive who worked for just $1 a year would be influential as all get out.

Among others who oppose raising presidential pay are--surprise!--various announced or prospective presidential candidates, including multimillionaire Steve Forbes and ordinary millionaire Elizabeth Dole. Al Gore, who is not a millionaire, said through a spokeswoman that “Al Gore has spent his career in public service to help people, not to go after a pay raise.” To be sure. But does he favor or oppose raising the next president’s pay?

We think something is seriously amiss when the president of the United States earns less than, say, the president of Costa Rica or the lowest-paid major league baseball player. It’s true that most people can never aspire to make $200,000 a year, let alone $400,000. It’s also true that if executive pay is supposed to reflect the importance of the job, $400,000 for the U.S. president can hardly be considered excessive.