PRESIDENT OF U.S.A.

Evening Star, Issue 22573, 15 February 1937, Page 1

PRESIDENT OF U.S.A.

UPKEEP OF HIS POSITIOH Even if tlie Prime Minister’s salary is raised from £5,000 to £B,OOO, ,Mr Baldwin will be badly paid compared with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 'who* at 54, begins a new term of office as President of the United States, says the ‘ Sunday Express.’ Roosevelt’s official salary-is £15,000,; and on top of this there are perquisites worth .a fortune. The magnificent White Honse ,at Washington is entirely kept up by the Government. They pay for the President’s cars, for his medicines, arid the wage bill of his servants. ‘ . ■ ' At 10 Downing street, Mr Baldwin spends £2,000 a year. He also pays the salaries of his private secretary and his chauffeur and domestics. The United States Congress has budgeted for £28,650 to be spent on the White House and its grounds. This includes alterations and improvements, refurnishings, and heating and lighting. Improvements to 10 Downing street | are carried out by the Office of Works. They cost only a few hundred pounds a year.. Here are some of the other things the American President enjoys at the Government’s expense:— He is allowed £5,000 annually for travelling expenses. Special trains are always at his disposal. Even his laundry is paid for by the nation. This costs over £I,OOO. The upkeep of the White House garage is almost as much as his salary. There are a dozen chauffeurs. Their salaries total £3,500. Their uniforms cost £SOO. The cars cost about £7,000 a year. The President enjoys free medical and dental service. There is a resident medical officer. Roosevelt can demand free nursing, free medicines, free hospital expenses. He can even have therapeutical appliances free. This is easily worth another £5,000 a year. If the President goes away and stay# at an hotel lie never sees the bill. Even tips are accounted for by the nation. He has a private barber s shop, which he visits every morning. The Government pay the man who shaves him, buy the soap and the talcum powder. There are always fresh-cut, blooms on the breakfast table. About 700 are cut every day for the White .House. The Government pay the head gardener £SOO a year, and there is a large staff of nnder-gardenex-s. ' When etiquette demands that the President should send flowers, an engraved White House card goes with them. They are printed free. -The Government buy. his newspapers, magazines, and books. YACHT FREE. There is a Presidential yacht, tho Potomac, manned by a crew of 3U. It costs between £IO,OOO and £20,000 a year. Roosevelt'is permitted to pay only for the food he eats on boaru He can command a battleship from the Navy or a string of horses, from the Army. , , The White House has 21 bedrooms, a gymnasium, and swimming pool, and there are wonderful greenhouses in the grounds. It has been valued at £5,000,000. .. A private citizen living there would have to pay £77,561 in taxes Among the alterations made at tua White House recently, have been improvements to the Cabinet _ Room, where the President meets his Stat» Ministers. , ■ . .. At the other end of the long table sits the Vice-President, Mr John Garner. Until Roosevelt became President, the second iu command did not have a seat in the Cabinet Room. _ Roosevelt altered that. It was typi’cal of the many nice things the President does for those who are loyal to him. , _ T . . Roosevelt lives simply. He rises at 8, breakfasts sparsely, and reads the morning papers. , ... From. 10.30 until 12 he attends conferences. There are between 15 and 20 aTiFhaunches on soup, salad, and coffee. Then more conferences and delving into masses of correspondence, legislative matters, documents, and reports demanding personal attention. ' At dusk he breaks away for a swim in the pool specially built for him. Often after dinner he retires to- prepare speeches._ . ■ , His relaxations are . simple. He hft« a private cinema show twice a week, and Mickey Mouse is his favourite dlflTflCtCJ* His favourite dish is scrambled eggs. His wife cooks 1 them for him every Sunday night, as she has done throughout their 30 years of happy manned life,