Taxpayers shell out nearly $3.7M for ex-presidents Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 5:57 am, Tuesday, March 26, 2013 Under the Former Presidents Act, previous inhabitants of the Oval Office are given an annual pension equivalent to a Cabinet secretary's salary — about $200,000 last year, plus $96,000 a year for a small office staff. [...] with ex-presidents able to command eye-popping sums for books, speaking engagements and the like in their post-White House years, the report raises questions about whether the U.S.