Presidential salaries have only been increased 5 times since the constitution went into effect in 1789. It was $25k initially. It was $75k from 1909 to 1949, then rising to $100k until 1969, and going to the present $400k in 2001. I believe that George Washington was said to have accepted his salary, which was a king’s ransom at the time, because he didn’t want the presidency to be seen as an office only attainable by the super rich. What it has become, since Bill Clinton, is an office that leads to great wealth after leaving office, which is probably even worse.