The Former Presidents Act (known also as FPA) (3 U.S.C. § 102) is a 1958 federal law

Federal law

Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join together in a federation, surrendering their individual sovereignty and many powers to the central government while...

 that provides several lifetime benefits to former presidents of the United States

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

.

History

Before 1958, the U.S. federal government provided no pension or other retirement benefits to former United States presidents. Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

 offered to endow a $25,000 annual pension for former Chief Executives in 1912, but congressmen questioned the propriety of such a private pension. Legislation introduced that year to establish a presidential pension failed. In 1955 former President Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

's limited financial resources for an office staff prompted legislation to provide benefits to former presidents.

When the Former Presidents Act took effect, there were two living former presidents: Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover

Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...

 and Truman. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

 was the first president to fall under the act when leaving office.

Current status

By law, former presidents are entitled to a pension, staff and office expenses, medical care or health insurance, and Secret Service protection.

Pension

The Secretary of the Treasury administers a (taxable) pension. It is equal to Executive Level I rate of pay, an executive department head's salary (currently $191,300). The pension begins immediately after a president's departure from office. A former president's widow may have a lifetime annual pension of $20,000 if she relinquishes any other statutory pension.

Transition

Transition funding for the expenses of leaving office is available for seven months. It covers office space, staff compensation, communications services, and printing and postage associated with the transition.

Staff and office

Private office staff provided by the Administrator of General Services and funds. Persons employed under this subsection shall be selected by the former president and shall be responsible only to him for the performance of their duties. Each former president shall fix basic rates of compensation for persons employed for him, which shall not exceed an annualized total of $150,000 for the first 30 months and $96,000 thereafter.

Medical insurance

Former presidents are entitled to treatment in military hospital

Military hospital

Military hospital is a hospital, which is generally located on a military base and is reserved for the use of military personnel, their dependents or other authorized users....

s; they pay for this at interagency rates set by the Office of Management and Budget. Two-term presidents may buy health insurance

Health insurance

Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health care expenses among a targeted group, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is...

 under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program; a GSA

General Services Administration

The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...

 legal opinion ruled Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

 and George H. W. Bush

George H. W. Bush

George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...

 ineligible.

Secret Service protection

Former presidents were entitled (1965–1996) to lifetime Secret Service

United States Secret Service

The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...

 protection, for themselves and spouses and children under 16. A 1994 statute, , limited post-presidential protection to ten years for presidents inaugurated after January 1, 1997. Under this statute, Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 will have lifetime protection; George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

, and all subsequent presidents (barring further legislative action) will have it for ten years.

Some have called on Congress to reconsider because the world has become more dangerous for former office holders. Members of Congress have discussed restoring lifetime protection in view of increases in terrorism and other threats.

Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

relinquished his Secret Service protection in 1985, the first (and so far only) president to do so.

External links

• National Archives: Former Presidents Act