<P> When the Former Presidents Act took effect, there were two living former presidents: Herbert Hoover and Harry S. Truman . Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to fall under the act upon leaving office . </P> <P> The original act provided for lifetime Secret Service protection for former presidents . In 1997, it was reduced to 10 years for presidents taking office after 1997 . The 1997 amendment was reverted by the Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112--257). All living former presidents and their spouses are now entitled to receive lifetime Secret Service protection . the presidents who fell under this were presidents Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama . </P> <P> By law, former presidents are entitled to a pension, staff and office expenses, medical care or health insurance, and Secret Service protection . </P> <P> The Secretary of the Treasury pays a taxable pension to the president . Former presidents receive a pension equal to the pay that the head of an executive department (Executive Level I) would be paid, as of 2017 $207,800 per year . The pension begins immediately after a president's departure from office . A former president's spouse may also be paid a lifetime annual pension of $20,000 if they relinquish any other statutory pension . </P>

Do presidents get secret service protection for life