Good ol' Harry

When President Truman retired from office in 1952 his income was substantially an Army pension reported to have been $13,507 a year. Congress, noting he was paying for stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.
Offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the president, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale." Even later, on 6 May 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it: "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."
Good old Harry was correct when he made the following observation: "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. To tell the truth, there's hardly any difference, and the piano player job is much more honorable than current politicians."