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  • 2016-08-05 (xsd:date)
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  • John F. Kennedy Donated His Entire Presidential Salary to Charity (en)
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  • Stories about John F. Kennedy, who served as President of the U.S. from 20 January 1961 until he was assassinated on 22 November 1963, frequently make their way around the internet devoid of citations. While memes cut from the same cloth are commonly either misinformation or outright lies, one tidbit — that Kennedy donated his entire presidential salary to charity — turns out to be true. When Kennedy took office he was the richest man ever to do so. Born into wealth and prestige — the Kennedy family fortune was valued at approximately $1 billion and JFK himself lived off a $10 million trust fund, according to biographer Richard Reeves — Kennedy refused his presidential salary, deciding instead to donate the money to charity. The amount stated in the image displayed above isn't quite accurate, however. JFK earned $100,000 for his presidential services and also received a $50,000 a year expense account. Contemporaneous news reports confirm that President Kennedy donated his salary to charity but reserved the expense account for public entertaining: At the same time that Kennedy's presidential compensation is overstated in the image above, his charitable donations of salary are understated. According to a 1962 article from United Press International, he also donated the entirety of the salary he earned during his 14 years in the House and Senate: Among the recipients of JFK's largesse were the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America, the United Negro College Fund and the Cuban Families Committee, according to Joseph P. Berry's John F. Kennedy and the Media: The First Television President, published in 1987. As noted above, JFK wasn't the first U.S. president to turn down a salary. George Washington refused the $25,000 allotted him by the first Congress (or he did initially, at least — some sources say he later used some of it for travel expenses), and Herbert Hoover (also one of the personally wealthiest of American presidents) banked his presidential salary and gave it entirely to charity, according to the biography provided by his presidential library. Kennedy may not be the last president to turn down a salary, either. In September 2015, billionaire Republican candidate Donald Trump announced that, if elected, he would forego the $400,000 insalary presidents have received since George W. Bush took office in 2001. (en)
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