The presidential election is approaching quickly and it seems like no matter where you go or what you do, the names Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump can be heard. I think it is safe to say that the 2016 Presidential Election is going to be an interesting one.

However, this article is not about Democrats or Republicans nor is it about Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton. This is about the actual job which is being President of the United States of America. I think some people tend to forget that being the nation’s leader is a paid job, and just like anyone else in the workforce they too take home a paycheck.

This topic was first presented to me via CNN. It was an article titled, “Trump or Clinton will be highest paid world leader,” and I of course, had to take a look. I will go ahead and admit that I am not a huge fan of politics but these numbers were rather surprising. According to CNN, Hillary or Trump can expect a salary of $400,000 dollars come November if they are elected. President Obama currently makes that same amount for being President of the United States.

CNN also made sure to mention that if Hillary or Trump wins the Presidential election this coming November, then their take home from being President will only be “a fraction of their earning power.” Bill and Hillary Clinton walked out of 2015 with $10.6 million dollars, mainly from speaking fees and royalties while Donald Trump ended 2015 with a reported $560 million dollars.

So, while $400,000 may be “a small chunk of change” for them, $400,000 dollars is still a lot of money, especially since the 2014 Census reported that the median average income in America was $51,939 dollars, according to Fox Business.

So, if you ask me, in comparison to everyone else in the country, the President makes a lot more than your ‘average Joe.’ But, lets not stop there. The President of the United States not only surpasses the nation’s average salary but also the incomes of world leaders across the globe. Just to clarify, all of the salaries from other countries have been properly converted into the United States currency for accurate comparisons.

The United States President takes home $400,000 dollars along with a tax-free annual expense account worth $50,000 dollars. The last time the United States President received a raise from Congress was in 2001, according to CNN. Our neighbors to the north, Canada, do not have a leader that makes that much.

Justin Trudeau, the 23^rd Prime Minister of Canada, takes home $260,000 dollars. Following him is Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel. Merkel’s salary is 218,400 euros per year or $242,000 dollars in the United States. According to CNN, Germany’s chancellor was granted a 2 percent raise in March and will be expecting another in February.

If you jump down the list a little bit you will see salaries getting lower and lower. Russia’s Vladimir Putin makes $137,650 dollars annually. Putin took a 10 percent pay cut last year due to the country’s deep recession, CNN reports. The next one shocked me. If you had asked me before I read this article I would have never guessed that the Chinese President made only $20,600 dollars. That’s right; CNN reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping only makes $20,600 even after the 60 percent pay raise he received at the beginning of 2015. This surprised me because China has the second largest economy in the world behind the United States.

These facts and figures are hard to ignore. Not everyone that was in CNN’s article was mentioned here, but I suggest you look it up. It’s very interesting to compare the salaries and also consider the country’s current economic position along with the events transpiring there. For example, Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff makes $103,000. According to CNN, she even slashed her own salary by 10 percent last October for a wider austerity drive.

But if you consider other factors, like the high poverty rate, high crime rate and the expensive Olympic Games held in Rio, a lower salary might make sense. Not to mention that Rousseff is facing impeachment, making her the second Brazilian President to be impeached, leaving Michel Temer as acting President as of May 12, 2016.

If you look at everything in the grand scheme of things, some of these salaries are not too outrageous given the job, the pressure that comes with the job and of course, all of the responsibility that world leaders carry on their shoulders. Running a country cannot be an easy job and they should be compensated well for it, but well compensated does not mean $400,000 to me, especially if you are already wealthy coming in.

What does this say about the United States, that our President is paid $140,000 more than the next highest paid world leader? Many opinions could be made about this, but mine is that this salary reflects our country’s extensive focus on money. Of course, they deserve a paycheck and of course I do not discredit the intensity of the role; however, I think that world leaders set the tone for the country and their values.

A lot of presidents have done good things that have benefited this country one way or the other, while others may have not done as well. To those that were successful, I tip my hat. It really cannot be easy to carry the spirit and responsibility of a nation on your shoulders. At the same time, all of the other world leaders have similar roles for less and for some, much less, yet they do the job. 

As far as I am concerned being President of the United States should be about making a difference, protecting, listening and standing by the people and having the courage to make the tough and sometimes unpopular decision for the greater good, even if it costs you votes come reelection season. Being President should in no way be about money, while it is a job and yes, they do have to pay bills and care for a family, they probably do not need $400,000 to do it.

A good sized paycheck is understandable, but some of the money that we use to pay our President could go towards making changes for everyone. If the nation and President settled for similar salaries to that of other countries then maybe we would have more money to fight poverty, make changes to Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare or provide more educational benefits nation wide. Over time, that money would add up and who knows what it could accomplish.