The president was responsible for food, however, for his family and for the staff. For the first time in his life, Truman was making a lot of money; the president’s salary was $75,000, up from $15,000 as VP. But food for the staff and for personal guests could get expensive. Mr. Crim advised Truman to set aside $1,000 a month for food. That was half as much as the Roosevelts allowed, but as Crim told the president, surely the Trumans would not live on the grand scale that the Roosevelts did. Mrs. Roosevelt had left the kitchen well stocked, so Bess wrote her a check and a thank-you note.
