With the mega-speeches of Bill and Hillary Clinton riling up so many headlines, Politico’s Michael Kruse decided to investigate how Clinton’s successor was doing on what Gerald Ford called the “mashed potato circuit.” The answer: pretty damn well, though exact figures proved suspiciously difficult to track down.

By 2011 President George W Bush “had given some 140 talks, for at least $15 million,” Kruse wrote, noting the trail of information dried up after that. Kruse found that Bush’s customary speaking fee fluctuated between $100,000 and $175,000, and may have gone higher.

At one point, Bush charged $100,000 to speak at a fundraiser for a McKinney homeless shelter:...

Kruse added that Bush’s speeches were mostly stateside, in contrast to the Clintons’ globetrotting, and largely avoided the conflicts of interest currently plaguing Clinton’s campaign.