Say I wanted our President Obama to speak at Goatherders U, for commencement, just because I like his style.
Would I have to pony up some kind of honorarium, or is there a set fee? Or, is there a certain list of A-list colleges that he will speak at, fee or no fee?
Thanks,
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This is a little off topic, but not much–I don’t know what presidents do.
But about 45 years ago Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Earl Warren spoke at the commencement of a small college in Minnesota. My family was friends with the president of the college, and he told this story:
At lunch before commencement, the president’s secretary put an envelope at Warren’s seat, which held a check for an honorarium plus the cost of first-class airfare from Washington to Minneapolis. Warren opened it, and said he hadn’t ever accepted an honoraria in his life (remember he’d been Governor of California and a politician for decades before Ike appointed him to the court). So the secretary cut a new check for just the airfare.
A week later the college received a letter from the Chief Justice, with his personal check for the difference between first-class and coach airfare.
I’m thinking this wouldn’t happen with Obama.
Why?
As I pointed out in my post, Warren was a politician. Politicians are usually happy to speak to any organization for free, because they always make a case for themselves.
Do you have any evidence to enforce your point?
And what you are really saying is …?
Afaik, honorariums are negotiated with the speaker.
Oh yes. Ex-presidents make unheard of bank from their speaking fees (6 figures and up for a short speech), whether for a commencement ceremony or otherwise. I’m not sure if it’s typical for a sitting president to give commencement speeches, but generally I would think he’d be a bit too busy for such a thing while in office.
Sitting presidents regularly make commencement speeches.
For Obama, they’ve been Notre Dame, last May, and the US Military Academy this year.
Retired politicians are another question, of course. Bill Clinton, George Bush the elder, and many others accept or require honoraria. And now we have questionably retired politicians garnering large honoraria, Sarah Palin, for instance. Is she retired or not? Her current job is TV analyst, so speaking fees are fair game.
I can’t imagine that sitting presidents take a fee for commencement speeches, as it would seem bad form. They are public servants after all, and as someone mentioned above, politicians are always looking for an excuse to speak in front of large crowds.
Former presidents however probably do demand a fee, but I imagine that when it comes to educational institutions they probably have some of personal sliding scale, depending on how attached they are to that particularly university (like if it’s their or their kids’ alma mater or if its located in their hometown or if they just have close friends in the school’s administration) and what sort of financial footing the school is on.
I read it just as pointing out that Obama, as sitting POTUS, would be flying in Air Force One, and the airfare bit would be obviously irrelevant. But, it occurs to me that there could easily be less charitable explanations.
Political appointees in the executive branch are barred by executive order from accepting any outside compensation. Technically, that order doesn’t apply to the president himself, but it would be politically unimaginable for him for him not to follow the same rule.
Also, there is a statute providing that no one in the executive branch can accept compensation for speaking or writing relating to his or her government duties, i.e., to anyone or about anything that may come before you in your job. The President’s job is so broadly defined that it would almost certainly apply to just about every speech he makes.
In my experience, sitting elected officials make the decision to speak at these sorts of events as part of their overall public-appearance message agenda. You get invited to dozens of events a week and you (or more realistically your staff) pick from among a few where it would be an appropriate opportunity to bring up this week’s talking points on jobs, values, security, etc. or to reach out to a constituency that’s represented in that town/group; if on the way to or from you can make a side trip to a fundraiser or campaign rally for a local political ally, hey, even better.
POTUS is a special case since technically he’s never off the clock and a whole lot of his transportation expenses are already covered, or if reimbursable as nonofficial business they would be so at a rate considerably above what you’d pay for… oh, say the Chief Justice of Nebraska.
Most sitting public officials either will not accept honoraria, or are barred from it. In some cases such as the example of Warren mentioned above, they may and will accept coverage for expenses (room, airfare) but at a rate that a later audit would consider reasonable and not extravagant.
Once you’re a FORMER elected official, well, then it’s hello, speaking fees… nice work if you can get it.
What tom Tildrum said.
I’m not sure about political appointees but for the rank and file workers there are very strict rules as to how you can use your position, with the long and short being that you can’t accept anything greater than about $25.00 beyond travel expenses.
Minor hijack: Do commencement speakers even get an honorarium? My understand is that the speaker receives an honorary degree and the speech is made in exchange.
Not exactly.
http://www.usoge.gov/common_ethics_issues/gifts_outside_sources.aspx
Actually the ethics laws apply to POTUS, but the very nature of the job grants selected exemptions.
Again, not exactly.
He just gave the commencement at the University of Michigan at Michigan stadium just a few weeks ago.
No, what I said was correct. You’re missing the distinction between executive branch employees in general and political appointees in particular. All of them are subject to the statutes you noted (as is the president). Political appointees are subject to the additional restrictions in Executive Order 12731, sec. 102(a) of which prohibits any outside earned income.
You’re right that I ignored such details as the de minimis exception. I did so because I thought they were de minimis. 
Generally not. Their travel expenses are covered, of course, but the degree is the honorarium.
The Earl Warren story does not ring true (though his repaying the difference between coach and first-class does – he is probably only allowed payment for actual expenses).
They get compensated in fees but not like you’d think
There are fees for their staff, they get gifts, which can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. They get first class accommodations in top of the line hotels, for themselves, their families, the staff and often friends of the families and such.
A suite in a Four Seasons or Peninsula type hotel at minimum is gonna run over $5,000, usually a lot more.
So they’re getting monies, it just won’t be directed in obvious cash payments.
There are a lot of books by professional fund raisers that tell you how this works. Of course the politicians all say they are false, but it’s amazing how in the last 30 years book after book tells the same stories, the same way, with reciepts and other proofs, yet somehow it’s never true. <Sigh>
And it’s not just politicians it’s everybody, from celebrities to athletes. They get rich off these speaking fees.
One person who always comes out as a shining example of a “fee-free” celebrity is Wayne Newton. When he plays charities he always pays 100% for everything. Not only for him and his band but for all his staff. He doesn’t even accept free tickets to the fundraisers he performs at.
When I graduated from Michigan all we got was the local newspaper owner. :smack:
Although he was in the middle of a hugely nasty labor strike. Walking into the ceremony through a mob demonstrators and cops was interesting in a dystopian movie kind of way.