Everybody likes to earn a little extra cash, right? Well, while the president earns a hefty $400,000 per year, he’s forbidden from earning more money outside of his salary. So, don’t expect to be seeing the president moonlighting anytime soon.
If the president owns a business prior to taking office, they must take a hands-off approach to how it is run. Meaning, they must leave the business in somebody else’s hands. If they have investments (which almost every president does) it must go into a blind trust during their time in service.
The Secret Service
After President McKinley passed away in 1901, Congress passed a law that officially charged the secret service with protecting the president and their family. The secret service also has the responsibility of protecting the vice president’s family and the president-elect and vice president-elect in the event of an election year.
There are, however, certain family members who refuse the protection of the secret service. For example, in September 2017, Donald Trump Jr. gave up his right to be protected by the secret service.
The Social Media Issue
In a time where children are growing up on social media, the many restrictions placed on first children can be very taxing. During Obama's presidency, Sasha and Malia Obama were not allowed to open Twitter accounts and they had very limited access to Facebook. Although it's surely an honor to be a part of the first family, it can be hard for children to be isolated from doing what other kids are doing. Dr. Jim Ronan, author, and professor of political science at Villanova University listed another setback that former presidents have discussed and that's missing out on their children's school events and hobbies. The amount of security that would need to be present at such events would be overwhelming. For this reason, some presidents’ children attended school right in the White House (complete with a classroom and a playground).
Conveniently enough, Michelle Obama isn't such a fan of social media for young children anyways. She shared “I still am not a big believer in Facebook for young people … particularly for them, because they’re in the public eye. Some of it’s stuff they don’t need to see and be a part of … So we try to protect them from too much of the public voice." Another interesting word on social media; it was recently reported that the president cannot block people on social media as it goes against the First Amendment.
The Law
Donald Trump, as a candidate for president in 2016, famously boasted that he "could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" and wouldn't lose any of his voters. And who knows what would happen if he actually did. While it would seem that the president is above the law, they are expected to follow laws just like the rest of us. Meaning, they aren't allowed to break laws and are charged for breaking the law like any other average citizen. Keep in mind, being charged with a crime and actually facing punishment aren't the same thing.
If a sitting president violates the law during their term in office, Congress deals with the situation as they see fit. The House of Representatives can act to impeach a president while the Senate can have the president taken to court, just like any other citizen.
Every day is Planned
When you're the president of the United States, your days are planned right down to the minute. You're lucky if you're able to squeeze in something that wasn't on the schedule. And anyway, even if you had some extra time, the secret service probably won't allow you, unless you give them a heads up of about four hours.
President Obama once attempted to organize an impromptu basketball game. However, his attempt failed as he didn't let the secret service know enough ahead of time. The secret service requires enough time to make sure that there is zero threat to the president's life.