how much? and what does that have to do with the thread?
I think it was on million right after he left office...
Checking.
here is one.
apan Bids Welcome (in 7 Figures) to Reagan
here is another one.
Ex-presidents in the news, then and now
(Posted by BNJ)
Bill Clinton, God bless him, seems to be doing quite well on the ol' lecture circuit.
Former president Bill Clinton, who came to the White House with modest means and left deeply in debt, has collected nearly $40 million in speaking fees over the past six years, according to interviews and financial disclosure statements filed by his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).
My friend Mal, like me, is old enough to remember that the news media wasn't always so blasé in its coverage of ex-presidents on profitable speaking tours. He reminded me what the New York Times had to say when a different ex-president, Ronald Wilson Reagan, pocketed $2 million in speaking fees in Japan.
Former Presidents haven’t always comported themselves with dignity after leaving the Oval Office. But none have plunged so blatantly into pure commercialism.
That Reagan. Always plumbing new lows in ex-presidential decorum.
Granted, the New York Times has so far been silent on the matter of Bill Clinton's haul, but let's not jump to any conclusions about media bias just yet. After all, since Bill Clinton is a Democrat, he can be trusted to spend the honoraria responsibly -- on social causes, purchasing offsetting carbon emissions credits, and so forth. It's only bad when a Republican gets that kind of scratch because you know he'll just use it to put arsenic in the drinking water and steal old people's dentures.
Comments
Well, heaven forbid that Mal ever be mistaken or overblown on the subject of media bias.. but let's look at some facts from the article.
Last year, according to the article, Clinton gave 352 speeches. Of the $10 million he reportedly "earned" last year, only 20 percent was for personal income.
So that is 352 speeches with 2 million dollars going into Bill Clinton's pocket.
Now.. let's go back to 1989.. when Reagan flew to Japan for nine days and pocketed 2 million dollars for just two speeches.
Now Clinton did make $475,000 once for 2 speeches. However, still, his average personal take last year was $5681 per speech, a lot of money for you and me but less than a Michael Moore or Rush Limbaugh could earn. (Also, the article reports that the elder Bush also has received six figure speaking fees.)
Now, no doubt, Reagan also gave speeches where his fee was donated. Still, if Clinton gave two speeches for two million dollars, there would be questions, especially if he did so right after he left office.
http://www.cynicalnation.com/2007/02/expresidents_on_the_lecture_ci.html
