# How often does the President get paid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975 "2016-11-07T18:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/1 "2016-11-07T18:31:29Z")
I was just wondering. You’d think it would be an easy question to get answered online but I checked. I found several sites which gave his annual salary. I found a few sites which said Obama is committing felonies by accepting his salary and should be arrested. And I found one site that implied he gets paid monthly and one site that implied he gets paid biweekly. Can anyone tell me if Obama gets a monthly, biweekly, or weekly paycheck? I’m having a fun time imaging Jack Lew stopping by the Oval Office every Friday afternoon to drop off Obama’s paycheck. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/2 "2016-11-07T18:35:08Z")
I can’t answer for the President (I know that’s your question) but the Secretary of Defense gets paid like every other federal employee - every two weeks. I can’t imagine why the President would be different. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/3 "2016-11-07T18:36:42Z")
I’m sure he has direct deposit. Regular old GS types get paid bi-weekly, IIRC. That, of course, means nothing when we are talking about the highest levels of government. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/4 "2016-11-07T18:38:48Z")
[From here.](https://www.federalpay.org/article/when-is-payday) > [@](#): > > Payday is Wednesday morning. However, for most employees pay is typically deposited into employee’s accounts on Thursday the morning. Employees may receive pay on the Wednesday afternoon in somecases. If an employee banks with a federal credit union or another bank that works closely with the federal government, their pay will likely be deposited on Wednesday afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/5 "2016-11-07T18:41:26Z")
Is Direct Deposit mandatory for Federal Employees? I’d guess it is. It is amusing to imagine the POTUS sitting in the benefits orientation meeting. You can select from these retirement plans, these health plans, and do you want Optional Life insurance? How much? LOL Even POTUS has to get an interview with the Benefits coordinator. Select the plans and options. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/6 "2016-11-07T18:42:42Z")
Which leads to the other perennial question - does the Prez carry any money, and if so, how much, and why? The autobiography of a White House photographer mentions bumming $40 off of Gerald Ford when he had to leave in a hurry for a trip. Not many other mentions of recent presidents and cash in their wallets. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/7 "2016-11-07T18:49:23Z")
Did POTUS send a Secret Service guy to collect the $40? 😃 Ford must have been a pretty approachable guy. Hard to imagine anyone asking Obama for a cigarette. Maybe it would be ok to ask for a light if POTUS is already smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/8 "2016-11-07T18:53:26Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Which leads to the other perennial question - does the Prez carry any money, and if so, how much, and why? > > The autobiography of a White House photographer mentions bumming $40 off of Gerald Ford when he had to leave in a hurry for a trip. Not many other mentions of recent presidents and cash in their wallets. I remembered reading an interview with then President Bush (the first one) and the interviewer asked Bush if he carried a wallet. Bush said he did. The interviewer then asked him how much money he carried. Bush confirmed his previous answer by pulling his wallet out of his pocket and then counting how much was in it. As I recall, he had fifty-four dollars. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/9 "2016-11-07T18:59:30Z")
Obama goes out for gourmet burgers fairly often. A couple places in DC have had articles written about the restaurant. Obama may carry cash to pay. [https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/the-fix/wp/2014/05/19/president-obama-and-cheeseburgers-a-love-story/%3F0p19G%3De?client=ms-android-motorola](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/the-fix/wp/2014/05/19/president-obama-and-cheeseburgers-a-love-story/%3F0p19G%3De?client=ms-android-motorola) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/10 "2016-11-07T19:18:20Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Did POTUS send a Secret Service guy to collect the $40? 😃 > > Ford must have been a pretty approachable guy. Hard to imagine anyone asking Obama for a cigarette. Maybe it would be ok to ask for a light if POTUS is already smoking. Barry seems like the kind of guy can’t bring himself to buy his own cigarettes, so he’s always casually walking by the smoking area outside and remembers he wanted to ask one of the guys an important question and while they’re talking as long as everyone else is smoking he might as well bum a cigarette too. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/11 "2016-11-07T19:24:34Z")
Jeez - I thought it said “laid”. According to Wanda Sykes, it’s regular. I bet he has direct deposit, same as everybody else with a government check. I doubt if he is living payday to payday, so he doesn’t tell people to wait till the first of the month. He also has a personal accountant that takes care of things like that. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/12 "2016-11-07T19:24:35Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Did POTUS send a Secret Service guy to collect the $40? 😃 > > Ford must have been a pretty approachable guy. Hard to imagine anyone asking Obama for a cigarette. Maybe it would be ok to ask for a light if POTUS is already smoking. I can’t remember the photographer’s name - he was a war photog in Vietnam and other interesting things, became the WH photographer and thus was fairly close to the President and others. He got some call to cover an event or do pre-photos of a meeting, had to leave on short notice and had no cash. So he asked Ford, who pulled out his wallet to see how much he had. Ah, this guy. [David Hume Kennerley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume_Kennerly). ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/13 "2016-11-07T19:26:20Z")
I remember watching a documentary of a BBC show following Clinton around and he bought some type of junk food at a campaign stop for himself and he paid from his own wallet. (The interesting thing was that the Diner owner was a Republican, but he really was bowled over by Bill). ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/14 "2016-11-07T19:31:10Z")
Obama has teenage daughters. So if his experience is anything like mine, every time he pulls out his wallet he says “What the hell?” before remembering they wheedled all his ready cash from him over the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/15 "2016-11-07T19:41:06Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Obama goes out for gourmet burgers fairly often. A couple places in DC have had articles written about the restaurant. > > Obama may carry cash to pay. > > [https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/the-fix/wp/2014/05/19/president-obama-and-cheeseburgers-a-love-story/%3F0p19G%3De?client=ms-android-motorola](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/the-fix/wp/2014/05/19/president-obama-and-cheeseburgers-a-love-story/%3F0p19G%3De?client=ms-android-motorola) ??? Why wouldn’t you be able to pay with a credit card there, especially at a “gourmet burger” place? (I checked just in case, and every place accepts credit cards. Well, maybe not Air Force 1, but I suspect he doesn’t need to pay there.) There’s still a handful of cash-only businesses left here, but even the non-gourmet hamburger shack down the street here accepts cards. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/16 "2016-11-07T19:45:12Z")
The Queen famously carries no money. I believe that Picasso always paid by cheque on the basis that, since his signature was often worth more than the value of the transaction, the cheques never got cashed. The PM will no doubt, like 95% of UK workers, be paid monthly through BACS. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/17 "2016-11-07T19:47:07Z")
I don’t know about the President, but I once stood in line at an ATM behind George Deukmejian, who was Governor of California at the time. The ATM was across the street from the State Capitol Building. He was getting his money out just like everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![dofe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ba0ec/32.png) [@dofe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dofe)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/18 "2016-11-07T19:47:18Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I remember watching a documentary of a BBC show following Clinton around and he bought some type of junk food at a campaign stop for himself and he paid from his own wallet. > > (The interesting thing was that the Diner owner was a Republican, but he really was bowled over by Bill). Obama did the same when he stopped for burgers at Five Guys: [https://youtu.be/J19w5TSTjcg?t=53s](https://youtu.be/J19w5TSTjcg?t=53s) ---
**Author:** ![vtxrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d26b3c/32.png) [@vtxrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vtxrider)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/19 "2016-11-07T19:51:37Z")
I have no actual knowledge, but I recall the flow from the Michael Douglas movie “The American President” and in it, he pretty much did not even have a credit card to pay for flowers for Sydney Ellen Wade. I guess I figured that was fairly accurate, not because such movies are, but mainly because it seemed that the President would not be expected to pay for such things, that one of the secret service members would handle the transactions and such. I mean does he have to pay for the groceries that make up breakfast, lunch and dinner, or is there just a budget for the kitchen staff for feeding the first family? Since most places accept credit/debit cards these days I seldom carry cash, so I sort of figured the President would not likely carry any more than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975/20 "2016-11-07T19:52:57Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Obama goes out for gourmet burgers fairly often. A couple places in DC have had articles written about the restaurant. > > Obama may carry cash to pay. I hear he goes out for coffee, but Jerry Seinfeld pays. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-president-get-paid/770975.md?page=2)