"Pin Money"

The first lady's $12,000 'pin money'

Excerpt:

Freeman, who died in 1917, directed that after the last named beneficiary of his estate died, $12,000 a year would be paid "to the lady termed the first lady in the land; that is, the President of the United States [sic] wife, or anyone representing the president as such, should he not be married or should she die during his administration." He specified that the money be for the first lady's "own and absolute use" and the payments "shall continue in force as long as this glorious government exists." The sum of $12,000 in 1912 is the equivalent of about $185,000 today.

Why such an unusual bequest? "I feel the President of the United States receives such a miserable pittance for a man holding the greatest position on earth," Freeman wrote in his will. At the time, the president was paid $75,000 a year, the equivalent of $1.15 million today. The current presidential salary is $400,000 a year.



Comments: I find this interesting because of ..

1. Henry G. Freeman Jr's obvious love for this country and patriotism!
   
2. How the value of the dollar has changed in 100 years.
   
3. The concept of 'pin money' is foreign to our culture.