From the President and First Lady’s tax returns, released today
Wiki: The Henry G. Freeman Jr. Pin Money Fund, is the operating name of an annuity fund of the Henry G. Freeman Jr. Trust, benefiting first ladies of the United States. It began in 1912, as part of the will of Henry G. Freeman Jr., a prominent Philadelphia real estate developer.
Freeman believed that the U.S president was paid a “miserable pittance”, and that a way of increasing his income while avoiding the appearance of political gifts was to institute an annuity to be paid “to the lady termed the first lady in the land; that is, the President of the United States [sic] wife, or anyone representing the president as such, should he not be married or should she die during his administration”.
Freeman’s will specified that the money be for the first lady’s “own and absolute use” and the payments “shall continue in force as long as this glorious government exists.”
The fund became active in November 1989 during the administration of George H.W. Bush, but due to a court dispute the first payments were not made until December 1992.
Barbara Bush received US $36,000.00 retroactively and donated a portion to her charity work, and spent an unspecified amount doing “something nice for my grandchildren”. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and First Lady Laura Bush have donated the payments to charity. The income is taxable, and the fund is overseen by Wachovia Trust Services.
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There’s another article here on the Pin Money Fund (MSNBC)
Mr Freeman sounded like a pretty cool guy 😉
The Obama Diary 
Ummm. that’s nice to know, good Education Chips, thank you so much 🙂
never knew about this…thanks for telling us
This guy was very pragmatic. These wives deserve this.
O.T……Elisabeth on the view made me tear up today when she showed the cards her little girls made for Malia and Sasha. It was very sweet. Her daughters really “get” this pres more so than MSM and the PL. I have a love/hate relationship with Elisabeth cause I don’t approve of her rhetoric but sometimes she manages to say something good about our pres and flotus that makes me pause. Actually she is always more complementary than even her fellow hosts and she always says “My president”, but when she gets on her GOP soap box I want to scream. 😀
I am never of two minds when it comes to Hasselback. She was horrible during the campaign. She has said unnecessarily personal and detestable things about the President and Mrs Obama. And she is a Republican through and through. She believes what she’s saying – it’s not just an act for TV. So, I don’t hate her, but I certainly don’t have any ambiguity about my intense reaction to her and her boss. I’m glad she has said nice things, and I love that her child is not being influenced by Elisabeth’s political attitudes, but she’s still the same person she was before.
I agree with you Theo67 about Elisabeth.