US National Debt by Year
This data table is a list of US National Debt by year by President. The second column is the amount added or subtracted to the debt for that year, the third column is the total debt for that year, after additions/subtractions. The number used per year is the accumulated national debt as of September 30 of any given year, as that is the end of the federal governments fiscal year.
End of Term % of Total Debt is based off of the FY2020 debt of $26,945,391,194,615.15, except for Obama, Trump & Biden (who are based on the total debt, so far, in FY2024). (Last Updated: 5/15/2024)
* US National Debt data, spanning from 1975 to 1985 is rounded up to the nearest $1 million. Reasons as to why are currently unknown.
Source: US Department of the Treasury
| Year | President | Added/Subtracted Debt | Cumulative Debt | Yearly % Increase | Total Term % Increase | End of Term % of Total Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1789 | George Washington | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 1790 | George Washington | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 1791 | George Washington | $75,463,476.52 | $75,463,476.52 | n/a | 100% | .0003% |
| 1792 | George Washington | $1,764,448.14 | $77,227,924.66 | 2.3% | 100% | .0003% |
| 1793 | George Washington | $3,130,709.38 | $80,358,634.04 | 4.0% | 100% | .0003% |
| 1794 | George Washington | -$1,931,229.27 | $78,427,404.77 | -2.4% | 100% | .0003% |
| 1795 | George Washington | $2,320,182.62 | $80,747,587.39 | 3.0% | 100% | .0003% |
| 1796 | George Washington | $3,014,584.68 | $83,762,172.07 | 3.7% | 100% | .0003% |
| 1797 | John Adams | -$1,697,692.74 | $82,064,479.33 | -2.0% | -0.9% | -0.000003% |
| 1798 | John Adams | -$2,835,950.21 | $79,228,529.12 | -3.5% | -0.9% | -0.000003% |
| 1799 | John Adams | -$819,859.35 | $78,408,669.77 | -1.03% | -0.9% | -0.000003% |
| 1800 | John Adams | $4,567,624.58 | $82,976,294.35 | 5.8% | -0.9% | -0.000003% |
| 1801 | Thomas Jefferson | $61,756.45 | $83,038,050.80 | 7.4% | -21.4% | -0.00007% |
| 1802 | Thomas Jefferson | -$2,325,418.55 | $80,712,632.25 | -2.8% | -21.4% | -0.00007% |
| 1803 | Thomas Jefferson | -$3,657,945.85 | $77,054,686.40 | -4.5% | -21.4% | -0.00007% |
| 1804 | Thomas Jefferson | $9,372,434.48 | $86,427,120.88 | 12.2% | -21.4% | -0.00007% |
| 1805 | Thomas Jefferson | -$4,114,970.38 | $82,312,150.50 | -4.8% | -21.4% | -0.00007% |
| 1806 | Thomas Jefferson | -$6,588,879.84 | $75,723,270.66 | -8.0% | -21.4% | -0.00007% |
| 1807 | Thomas Jefferson | -$6,504,872.02 | $69,218,398.64 | -8.6% | -21.4% | -0.00007% |
| 1808 | Thomas Jefferson | -$4,022,080.67 | $65,196,317.97 | -5.8% | -21.4% | -0.00007% |
| 1809 | James Madison | -$8,173,125.88 | $57,023,192.09 | -12.5% | 95.3% | 0.0002% |
| 1810 | James Madison | -$3,849,974.57 | $53,173,217.52 | -6.8% | 95.3% | 0.0002% |
| 1811 | James Madison | -$5,167,629.76 | $48,005,587.76 | -9.7% | 95.3% | 0.0002% |
| 1812 | James Madison | -$2,795,849.86 | $45,209,737.90 | -5.8% | 95.3% | 0.0002% |
| 1813 | James Madison | $10,753,089.67 | $55,962,827.57 | 23.8% | 95.3% | 0.0002% |
| 1814 | James Madison | $25,525,018.67 | $81,487,846.24 | 45.6% | 95.3% | 0.0002% |
| 1815 | James Madison | $18,345,813.91 | $99,833,660.15 | 22.5% | 95.3% | 0.0002% |
| 1816 | James Madison | $27,501,273.59 | $127,334,933.74 | 27.5% | 95.3% | 0.0002% |
| 1817 | James Monroe | -$3,842,968.58 | $123,491,965.16 | -3.0% | -29.1% | -0.0001% |
| 1818 | James Monroe | -$20,025,331.33 | $103,466,633.83 | -16.2% | -29.1% | -0.0001% |
| 1819 | James Monroe | -$7,936,985.55 | $95,529,648.28 | -7.7% | -29.1% | -0.0001% |
| 1820 | James Monroe | -$4,514,082.13 | $91,015,566.15 | -4.7% | -29.1% | -0.0001% |
| 1821 | James Monroe | -$1,028,138.49 | $89,987,427.66 | -1.1% | -29.1% | -0.0001% |
| 1822 | James Monroe | $3,559,249.32 | $93,546,676.98 | 4.0% | -29.1% | -0.0001% |
| 1823 | James Monroe | -$2,670,799.70 | $90,875,877.28 | -2.9% | -29.1% | -0.0001% |
| 1824 | James Monroe | -$606,099.51 | $90,269,777.77 | -0.6% | -29.1% | -0.0001% |
| 1825 | John Quincy Adams | -$6,481,345.06 | $83,788,432.71 | -7.2% | -25.3% | -0.00008% |
| 1826 | John Quincy Adams | -$2,734,372.72 | $81,054,059.99 | -3.3% | -25.3% | -0.00008% |
| 1827 | John Quincy Adams | -$7,066,702.79 | $73,987,357.20 | -8.7% | -25.3% | -0.00008% |
| 1828 | John Quincy Adams | -$6,512,313.33 | $67,475,043.87 | -8.8% | -25.3% | -0.00008% |
| 1829 | Andrew Jackson | -$9,053,630.20 | $58,421,413.67 | -13.4% | -99.9% | -0.0003% |
| 1830 | Andrew Jackson | -$9,856,007.17 | $48,565,406.50 | -16.9% | -99.9% | -0.0003% |
| 1831 | Andrew Jackson | -$9,442,214.82 | $39,123,191.68 | -19.4% | -99.9% | -0.0003% |
| 1832 | Andrew Jackson | -$14,800,956.50 | $24,322,235.18 | -37.8% | -99.9% | -0.0003% |
| 1833 | Andrew Jackson | -$17,320,536.35 | $7,001,698.83 | -71.2% | -99.9% | -0.0003% |
| 1834 | Andrew Jackson | -$2,241,616.75 | $4,760,082.08 | -32.0% | -99.9% | -0.0003% |
| 1835 | Andrew Jackson | -$4,726,349.03 | $33,733.05 | -99.3% | -99.9% | -0.0003% |
| 1836 | Andrew Jackson | $3,780.00 | $37,513.05 | 11.2% | -99.9% | -0.0003% |
| 1837 | Martin Van Buren | $299,444.78 | $336,957.83 | 798.2% | 9,425.6% | 0.00001% |
| 1838 | Martin Van Buren | $2,971,166.24 | $3,308,124.07 | 881.8% | 9,425.6% | 0.00001% |
| 1839 | Martin Van Buren | $7,126,097.07 | $10,434,221.14 | 215.4% | 9,425.6% | 0.00001% |
| 1840 | Martin Van Buren | -$6,860,877.32 | $3,573,343.82 | -65.8% | 9,425.6% | 0.00001% |
| 1841 | William Henry Harrison / John Tyler | $1,677,531.72 | $5,250,875.54 | 46.9% | 556.6% | 0.00007% |
| 1842 | John Tyler | $8,343,605.19 | $13,594,480.73 | 158.9% | 556.6% | 0.00007% |
| 1843 | John Tyler | $19,148,441.27 | $32,742,922.00 | 140.9% | 556.6% | 0.00007% |
| 1844 | John Tyler | -$9,281,269.50 | $23,461,652.50 | -28.3% | 556.6% | 0.00007% |
| 1845 | James Knox Polk | -$7,536,349.49 | $15,925,303.01 | -32.1% | 100.5% | 0.00009% |
| 1846 | James Knox Polk | -$375,100.04 | $15,550,202.97 | -2.4% | 100.5% | 0.00009% |
| 1847 | James Knox Polk | $23,276,331.8 | $38,826,534.77 | 149.7% | 100.5% | 0.00009% |
| 1848 | James Knox Polk | $8,218,327.46 | $47,044,862.23 | 21.2% | 100.5% | 0.00009% |
| 1849 | Zachary Taylor | $16,016,996.46 | $63,061,858.69 | 34% | 34% | 0.00006% |
| 1850 | Millard Fillmore | $390,914.86 | $63,452,773.55 | 0.6% | 5.0% | 0.00001% |
| 1851 | Millard Fillmore | $4,852,022.47 | $68,304,796.02 | 7.6% | 5.0% | 0.00001% |
| 1852 | Millard Fillmore | -$2,105,454.31 | $66,199,341.71 | -3.1% | 5.0% | 0.00001% |
| 1853 | Franklin Pierce | -$6,396,224.01 | $59,803,117.70 | -9.7% | -51.7% | -0.0001% |
| 1854 | Franklin Pierce | -$17,560,895.28 | $42,242,222.42 | -29.4% | -51.7% | -0.0001% |
| 1855 | Franklin Pierce | -$6,655,265.86 | $35,586,956.56 | -15.8% | -51.7% | -0.0001% |
| 1856 | Franklin Pierce | -$3,614,418.66 | $31,972,537.90 | -10.2% | -51.7% | -0.0001% |
| 1857 | James Buchanan | -$3,272,706.05 | $28,699,831.85 | -10.2% | 102.8% | 0.0001% |
| 1858 | James Buchanan | $16,212,049.18 | $44,911,881.03 | 56.5% | 102.8% | 0.0001% |
| 1859 | James Buchanan | $13,584,956.85 | $58,496,837.88 | 30.2% | 102.8% | 0.0001% |
| 1860 | James Buchanan | $6,345,450.00 | $64,842,287.88 | 10.8% | 102.8% | 0.0001% |
| 1861 | Abraham Lincoln | $25,738,585.84 | $90,580,873.72 | 39.7% | 2,700.3% | 0.006% |
| 1862 | Abraham Lincoln | $433,595,538.41 | $524,176,412.13 | 478.7% | 2,700.3% | 0.006% |
| 1863 | Abraham Lincoln | $595,595,726.50 | $1,119,772,138.63 | 113.6% | 2,700.3% | 0.006% |
| 1864 | Abraham Lincoln | $696,012,231.94 | $1,815,784,370.57 | 62.2% | 2,700.3% | 0.006% |
| 1865 | Andrew Johnson | $864,863,499.17 | $2,680,647,869.74 | 47.6% | 43.8% | 0.003% |
| 1866 | Andrew Johnson | $92,588,303.95 | $2,773,236,173.69 | 3.5% | 43.8% | 0.003% |
| 1867 | Andrew Johnson | -$95,110,069.82 | $2,678,126,103.87 | -3.4% | 43.8% | 0.003% |
| 1868 | Andrew Johnson | -$66,438,252.68 | $2,611,687,851.19 | -2.5% | 43.8% | 0.003% |
| 1869 | Ulysses Simpson Grant | -$23,235,637.25 | $2,588,452,213.94 | -0.9% | -16.5% | -0.002% |
| 1870 | Ulysses Simpson Grant | -$107,779,786.13 | $2,480,672,427.81 | -4.2% | -16.5% | -0.002% |
| 1871 | Ulysses Simpson Grant | -$127,461,095.49 | $2,353,211,332.32 | -5.1% | -16.5% | -0.002% |
| 1872 | Ulysses Simpson Grant | -$99,960,003.54 | $2,253,251,328.78 | -4.2% | -16.5% | -0.002% |
| 1873 | Ulysses Simpson Grant | -$18,768,335.58 | $2,234,482,993.20 | -0.8% | -16.5% | -0.002% |
| 1874 | Ulysses Simpson Grant | $17,207,475.23 | $2,251,690,468.43 | 0.8% | -16.5% | -0.002% |
| 1875 | Ulysses Simpson Grant | -$19,405,936.48 | $2,232,284,531.95 | -0.9% | -16.5% | -0.002% |
| 1876 | Ulysses Simpson Grant | -$51,889,464.80 | $2,180,395,067.15 | -2.3% | -16.5% | -0.002% |
| 1877 | Rutherford Birchard Hayes | $24,906,324.95 | $2,205,301,392.10 | 1.1% | -2.8% | -0.0002% |
| 1878 | Rutherford Birchard Hayes | $50,904,500.43 | $2,256,205,892.53 | 2.3% | -2.8% | -0.0002% |
| 1879 | Rutherford Birchard Hayes | $93,361,589.51 | $2,349,567,482.04 | 4.1% | -2.8% | -0.0002% |
| 1880 | Rutherford Birchard Hayes | -$229,152,111.41 | $2,120,415,370.63 | -9.8% | -2.8% | -0.0002% |
| 1881 | James Abram Garfield / Chester Alan Arthur | -$51,401,801.05 | $2,069,013,569.58 | -2.4% | -13.7% | -0.001% |
| 1882 | Chester Alan Arthur | -$150,700,575.55 | $1,918,312,994.03 | -7.3% | -13.7% | -0.001% |
| 1883 | Chester Alan Arthur | -$34,141,265.96 | $1,884,171,728.07 | -1.8% | -13.7% | -0.001% |
| 1884 | Chester Alan Arthur | -$53,642,804.50 | $1,830,528,923.57 | -2.8% | -13.7% | -0.001% |
| 1885 | Grover Cleveland | $33,435,949.57 | $1,863,964,873.14 | 1.8% | -7.5% | -0.0005% |
| 1886 | Grover Cleveland | -$88,901,859.36 | $1,775,063,013.78 | -4.8% | -7.5% | -0.0005% |
| 1887 | Grover Cleveland | -$117,460,421.15 | $1,657,602,592.63 | -6.6% | -7.5% | -0.0005% |
| 1888 | Grover Cleveland | $35,256,391.95 | $1,692,858,984.58 | 2.1% | -7.5% | -0.0005% |
| 1889 | Benjamin Harrison | -$73,806,062.35 | $1,619,052,922.23 | -4.4% | -6.2% | -0.0007% |
| 1890 | Benjamin Harrison | -$66,912,717.50 | $1,552,140,204.73 | -4.1% | -6.2% | -0.0007% |
| 1891 | Benjamin Harrison | -$6,143,613.12 | $1,545,996,591.61 | -0.4% | -6.2% | -0.0007% |
| 1892 | Benjamin Harrison | $42,467,553.02 | $1,588,464,144.63 | 2.7% | -6.2% | -0.0007% |
| 1893 | Grover Cleveland | -$42,478,458.50 | $1,545,985,686.13 | -2.7% | 11.4% | 0.001% |
| 1894 | Grover Cleveland | $86,267,950.55 | $1,632,253,636.68 | 5.6% | 11.4% | 0.001% |
| 1895 | Grover Cleveland | $43,867,346.57 | $1,676,120,983.25 | 2.7% | 11.4% | 0.001% |
| 1896 | Grover Cleveland | $93,719,340.15 | $1,769,840,323.40 | 5.6% | 11.4% | 0.001% |
| 1897 | William McKinley | $47,832,342.50 | $1,817,672,665.90 | 2.7% | 20.7% | 0.001% |
| 1898 | William McKinley | -$21,140,670.00 | $1,796,531,995.90 | -1.2% | 20.7% | 0.001% |
| 1899 | William McKinley | $195,395,311.02 | $1,991,927,306.92 | 10.9% | 20.7% | 0.001% |
| 1900 | William McKinley | $145,033,784.75 | $2,136,961,091.67 | 7.3% | 20.7% | 0.001% |
| 1901 | Theodore Roosevelt | $6,365,842.22 | $2,143,326,933.89 | 0.3% | 22.9% | 0.002% |
| 1902 | Theodore Roosevelt | $15,283,512.00 | $2,158,610,445.89 | 0.7% | 22.9% | 0.002% |
| 1903 | Theodore Roosevelt | $43,854,336.00 | $2,202,464,781.89 | 2.0% | 22.9% | 0.002% |
| 1904 | Theodore Roosevelt | $61,538,803.25 | $2,264,003,585.14 | 2.8% | 22.9% | 0.002% |
| 1905 | Theodore Roosevelt | $10,611,478.70 | $2,274,615,063.84 | 0.5% | 22.9% | 0.002% |
| 1906 | Theodore Roosevelt | $62,546,775.20 | $2,337,161,839.04 | 2.7% | 22.9% | 0.002% |
| 1907 | Theodore Roosevelt | $120,026,222.50 | $2,457,188,061.54 | 5.1% | 22.9% | 0.002% |
| 1908 | Theodore Roosevelt | $169,618,210.00 | $2,626,806,271.54 | 6.9% | 22.9% | 0.002% |
| 1909 | William Howard Taft | $12,739,969.50 | $2,639,546,241.04 | 0.5% | 9.2% | 0.0009% |
| 1910 | William Howard Taft | $13,119,597.00 | $2,652,665,838.04 | 0.5% | 9.2% | 0.0009% |
| 1911 | William Howard Taft | $112,934,768.65 | $2,765,600,606.69 | 4.3% | 9.2% | 0.0009% |
| 1912 | William Howard Taft | $102,773,267.47 | $2,868,373,874.16 | 3.7% | 9.2% | 0.0009% |
| 1913 | Woodrow Wilson | $47,831,039.50 | $2,916,204,913.66 | 1.7% | 804.8% | 0.09% |
| 1914 | Woodrow Wilson | -$3,705,644.50 | $2,912,499,269.16 | -0.1% | 804.8% | 0.09% |
| 1915 | Woodrow Wilson | $145,637,604.00 | $3,058,136,873.16 | 5.0% | 804.8% | 0.09% |
| 1916 | Woodrow Wilson | $551,107,389.00 | $3,609,244,262.16 | 18.0% | 804.8% | 0.09% |
| 1917 | Woodrow Wilson | $2,108,526,017.36 | $5,717,770,279.52 | 58.4% | 804.8% | 0.09% |
| 1918 | Woodrow Wilson | $8,874,391,134.48 | $14,592,161,414.00 | 155.2% | 804.8% | 0.09% |
| 1919 | Woodrow Wilson | $12,798,808,699.12 | $27,390,970,113.12 | 87.7% | 804.8% | 0.09% |
| 1920 | Woodrow Wilson | -$1,438,513,706.96 | $25,952,456,406.16 | -5.3% | 804.8% | 0.09% |
| 1921 | Warren Gamaliel Harding | -$1,975,005,853.62 | $23,977,450,552.54 | -7.6% | -11.5% | -0.01% |
| 1922 | Warren Gamaliel Harding | -$1,014,068,844.23 | $22,963,381,708.31 | -4.2% | -11.5% | -0.01% |
| 1923 | Calvin Coolidge | -$613,674,342.95 | $22,349,707,365.36 | -2.7% | -23.3% | -0.02% |
| 1924 | Calvin Coolidge | -$1,098,894,375.87 | $21,250,812,989.49 | -4.9% | -23.3% | -0.02% |
| 1925 | Calvin Coolidge | -$734,619,101.59 | $20,516,193,887.90 | -3.5% | -23.3% | -0.02% |
| 1926 | Calvin Coolidge | -$872,977,572.71 | $19,643,216,315.19 | -4.3% | -23.3% | -0.02% |
| 1927 | Calvin Coolidge | -$1,131,309,383.34 | $18,511,906,931.85 | -5.8% | -23.3% | -0.02% |
| 1928 | Calvin Coolidge | -$907,613,730.42 | $17,604,293,201.43 | -4.9% | -23.3% | -0.02% |
| 1929 | Herbert Clark Hoover | -$673,204,717.33 | $16,931,088,484.10 | -3.8% | 10.7% | 0.007% |
| 1930 | Herbert Clark Hoover | -$745,778,652.67 | $16,185,309,831.43 | -4.4% | 10.7% | 0.007% |
| 1931 | Herbert Clark Hoover | $615,971,660.28 | $16,801,281,491.71 | 3.8% | 10.7% | 0.007% |
| 1932 | Herbert Clark Hoover | $2,685,720,952.42 | $19,487,002,444.13 | 16.0% | 10.7% | 0.007% |
| 1933 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | $3,051,670,116.02 | $22,538,672,560.15 | 15.7% | 931.5% | 0.67% |
| 1934 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | $4,514,468,854.33 | $27,053,141,414.48 | 20.0% | 931.5% | 0.67% |
| 1935 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | $1,647,751,210.05 | $28,700,892,624.53 | 6.1% | 931.5% | 0.67% |
| 1936 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | $5,077,650,869.20 | $33,778,543,493.73 | 17.7% | 931.5% | 0.67% |
| 1937 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | $2,646,070,238.56 | $36,424,613,732.29 | 7.8% | 931.5% | 0.67% |
| 1938 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | $740,126,583.16 | $37,164,740,315.45 | 2.0% | 931.5% | 0.67% |
| 1939 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | $3,274,792,095.66 | $40,439,532,411.11 | 8.8% | 931.5% | 0.67% |
| 1940 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | $2,527,998,626.57 | $42,967,531,037.68 | 6.3% | 931.5% | 0.67% |
| 1941 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | $5,993,912,498.03 | $48,961,443,535.71 | 13.9% | 931.5% | 0.67% |
| 1942 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | $23,461,001,580.51 | $72,422,445,116.22 | 47.9% | 931.5% | 0.67% |
| 1943 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | $64,273,645,213.68 | $136,696,090,329.90 | 88.7% | 931.5% | 0.67% |
| 1944 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | $64,307,296,891.23 | $201,003,387,221.13 | 47.0% | 931.5% | 0.67% |
| 1945 | Harry S Truman | $57,678,800,188.80 | $258,682,187,409.93 | 28.7% | 28.9% | 0.22% |
| 1946 | Harry S Truman | $10,739,911,763.33 | $269,422,099,173.26 | 4.2% | 28.9% | 0.22% |
| 1947 | Harry S Truman | -$11,135,716,064.59 | $258,286,383,108.67 | -4.1% | 28.9% | 0.22% |
| 1948 | Harry S Truman | -$5,994,136,595.68 | $252,292,246,512.99 | -2.3% | 28.9% | 0.22% |
| 1949 | Harry S Truman | $478,113,347.34 | $252,770,359,860.33 | 0.2% | 28.9% | 0.22% |
| 1950 | Harry S Truman | $4,586,992,490.71 | $257,357,352,351.04 | 1.8% | 28.9% | 0.22% |
| 1951 | Harry S Truman | -$2,135,375,536.11 | $255,221,976,814.93 | -0.8% | 28.9% | 0.22% |
| 1952 | Harry S Truman | $3,883,201,970.50 | $259,105,178,785.43 | 1.5% | 28.9% | 0.22% |
| 1953 | Dwight David Eisenhower | $6,965,882,853.14 | $266,071,061,638.57 | 2.7% | 10.5% | 0.1% |
| 1954 | Dwight David Eisenhower | $5,188,537,469.89 | $271,259,599,108.46 | 2.0% | 10.5% | 0.1% |
| 1955 | Dwight David Eisenhower | $3,114,623,694.16 | $274,374,222,802.62 | 1.1% | 10.5% | 0.1% |
| 1956 | Dwight David Eisenhower | -$1,623,409,153.30 | $272,750,813,649.32 | -0.6% | 10.5% | 0.1% |
| 1957 | Dwight David Eisenhower | -$2,223,641,752.89 | $270,527,171,896.43 | -0.8% | 10.5% | 0.1% |
| 1958 | Dwight David Eisenhower | $5,816,045,849.38 | $276,343,217,745.81 | 2.1% | 10.5% | 0.1% |
| 1959 | Dwight David Eisenhower | $8,362,689,332.41 | $284,705,907,078.22 | 3.0% | 10.5% | 0.1% |
| 1960 | Dwight David Eisenhower | $1,624,853,770.15 | $286,330,760,848.37 | 0.6% | 10.5% | 0.1% |
| 1961 | John Fitzgerald Kennedy | $2,640,177,761.68 | $288,970,938,610.05 | 0.9% | 6.8% | 0.07% |
| 1962 | John Fitzgerald Kennedy | $9,229,884,110.82 | $298,200,822,720.87 | 3.2% | 6.8% | 0.07% |
| 1963 | John Fitzgerald Kennedy / Lyndon Baines Johnson | $7,658,810,275.54 | $305,859,632,996.41 | 2.6% | 6.8% | 0.07% |
| 1964 | Lyndon Baines Johnson | $5,853,266,260.89 | $311,712,899,257.30 | 1.9% | 13.6% | 0.15% |
| 1965 | Lyndon Baines Johnson | $5,560,999,726.34 | $317,273,898,983.64 | 1.8% | 13.6% | 0.15% |
| 1966 | Lyndon Baines Johnson | $2,633,188,811.84 | $319,907,087,795.48 | 0.8% | 13.6% | 0.15% |
| 1967 | Lyndon Baines Johnson | $6,313,849,999.06 | $326,220,937,794.54 | 2.0% | 13.6% | 0.15% |
| 1968 | Lyndon Baines Johnson | $21,357,468,631.34 | $347,578,406,425.88 | 6.5% | 13.6% | 0.15% |
| 1969 | Richard Milhous Nixon | $6,141,847,415.53 | $353,720,253,841.41 | 1.8% | 31.8% | 0.4% |
| 1970 | Richard Milhous Nixon | $17,198,453,108.52 | $370,918,706,949.93 | 4.9% | 31.8% | 0.4% |
| 1971 | Richard Milhous Nixon | $27,211,037,505.61 | $398,129,744,455.54 | 7.3% | 31.8% | 0.4% |
| 1972 | Richard Milhous Nixon | $29,130,716,484.96 | $427,260,460,940.50 | 7.3% | 31.8% | 0.4% |
| 1973 | Richard Milhous Nixon | $30,881,144,371.59 | $458,141,605,312.09 | 7.2% | 31.8% | 0.4% |
| 1974 | Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr | $16,918,210,419.46 | $475,059,815,731.55 | 3.7% | 35.4% | 0.6% |
| 1975 | Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr | $58,129,184,268.45 | *$533,189,000,000.00 | 12.2% | 35.4% | 0.6% |
| 1976 | Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr | $87,244,000,000.00 | *$620,433,000,000.00 | 16.4% | 35.4% | 0.6% |
| 1977 | James Earl Carter | $78,407,000,000.00 | *$698,840,000,000.00 | 12.6% | 46.3% | 1.07% |
| 1978 | James Earl Carter | $72,704,000,000.00 | *$771,544,000,000.00 | 10.4% | 46.3% | 1.07% |
| 1979 | James Earl Carter | $54,975,000,000.00 | *$826,519,000,000.00 | 7.1% | 46.3% | 1.07% |
| 1980 | James Earl Carter | $81,182,000,000.00 | *$907,701,000,000.00 | 9.8% | 46.3% | 1.07% |
| 1981 | Ronald Wilson Reagan | $90,154,000,000.00 | *$997,855,000,000.00 | 9.9% | 186.7% | 6.29% |
| 1982 | Ronald Wilson Reagan | $144,179,000,000.00 | *$1,142,034,000,000.00 | 14.4% | 186.7% | 6.29% |
| 1983 | Ronald Wilson Reagan | $235,176,000,000.00 | *$1,377,210,000,000.00 | 20.6% | 186.7% | 6.29% |
| 1984 | Ronald Wilson Reagan | $195,056,000,000.00 | *$1,572,266,000,000.00 | 14.2% | 186.7% | 6.29% |
| 1985 | Ronald Wilson Reagan | $250,837,000,000.00 | *$1,823,103,000,000.00 | 16.0% | 186.7% | 6.29% |
| 1986 | Ronald Wilson Reagan | $302,199,616,658.42 | $2,125,302,616,658.42 | 16.6% | 186.7% | 6.29% |
| 1987 | Ronald Wilson Reagan | $224,974,274,294.58 | $2,350,276,890,953.00 | 10.6% | 186.7% | 6.29% |
| 1988 | Ronald Wilson Reagan | $252,060,821,088.16 | $2,602,337,712,041.16 | 10.7% | 186.7% | 6.29% |
| 1989 | George Herbert Walker Bush | $255,093,248,146.16 | $2,857,430,960,187.32 | 9.8% | 56.2% | 5.43% |
| 1990 | George Herbert Walker Bush | $375,882,491,589.93 | $3,233,313,451,777.25 | 13.2% | 56.2% | 5.43% |
| 1991 | George Herbert Walker Bush | $431,989,899,919.78 | $3,665,303,351,697.03 | 13.4% | 56.2% | 5.43% |
| 1992 | George Herbert Walker Bush | $399,317,303,824.63 | $4,064,620,655,521.66 | 10.9% | 56.2% | 5.43% |
| 1993 | William Jefferson Clinton | $346,868,227,617.72 | $4,411,488,883,139.38 | 8.5% | 39.6% | 5.97% |
| 1994 | William Jefferson Clinton | $281,261,026,873.94 | $4,692,749,910,013.32 | 6.4% | 39.6% | 5.97% |
| 1995 | William Jefferson Clinton | $281,232,990,696.07 | $4,973,982,900,709.39 | 6.0% | 39.6% | 5.97% |
| 1996 | William Jefferson Clinton | $250,828,038,426.34 | $5,224,810,939,135.73 | 5.0% | 39.6% | 5.97% |
| 1997 | William Jefferson Clinton | $188,335,072,261.61 | $5,413,146,011,397.34 | 3.6% | 39.6% | 5.97% |
| 1998 | William Jefferson Clinton | $113,046,997,500.28 | $5,526,193,008,897.62 | 2.1% | 39.6% | 5.97% |
| 1999 | William Jefferson Clinton | $130,077,892,717.81 | $5,656,270,901,615.43 | 2.4% | 39.6% | 5.97% |
| 2000 | William Jefferson Clinton | $17,907,308,271.43 | $5,674,178,209,886.86 | 0.3% | 39.6% | 5.97% |
| 2001 | George Walker Bush | $133,285,202,313.20 | $5,807,463,412,200.06 | 2.3% | 76.7% | 16.15% |
| 2002 | George Walker Bush | $420,772,553,397.10 | $6,228,235,965,597.16 | 7.2% | 76.7% | 16.15% |
| 2003 | George Walker Bush | $554,995,097,146.46 | $6,783,231,062,743.62 | 8.9% | 76.7% | 16.15% |
| 2004 | George Walker Bush | $595,821,633,586.70 | $7,379,052,696,330.32 | 8.8% | 76.7% | 16.15% |
| 2005 | George Walker Bush | $553,656,965,393.18 | $7,932,709,661,723.50 | 7.5% | 76.7% | 16.15% |
| 2006 | George Walker Bush | $574,264,237,491.73 | $8,506,973,899,215.23 | 7.2% | 76.7% | 16.15% |
| 2007 | George Walker Bush | $500,679,473,047.25 | $9,007,653,372,262.48 | 5.9% | 76.7% | 16.15% |
| 2008 | George Walker Bush | $1,017,071,524,650.01 | $10,024,724,896,912.49 | 11.3% | 76.7% | 16.15% |
| 2009 | Barack Hussein Obama | $1,885,104,106,599.26 | $11,909,829,003,511.75 | 18.8% | 95.3% | 27.64% |
| 2010 | Barack Hussein Obama | $1,651,794,027,380.04 | $13,561,623,030,891.79 | 13.9% | 95.3% | 27.64% |
| 2011 | Barack Hussein Obama | $1,228,717,297,665.36 | $14,790,340,328,557.15 | 9.1% | 95.3% | 27.64% |
| 2012 | Barack Hussein Obama | $1,275,901,078,828.74 | $16,066,241,407,385.89 | 8.6% | 95.3% | 27.64% |
| 2013 | Barack Hussein Obama | $671,942,119,311.43 | $16,738,183,526,697.32 | 4.2% | 95.3% | 27.64% |
| 2014 | Barack Hussein Obama | $1,085,887,854,036.50 | $17,824,071,380,733.82 | 6.5% | 95.3% | 27.64% |
| 2015 | Barack Hussein Obama | $326,546,285,750.51 | $18,150,617,666,484.33 | 1.8% | 95.3% | 27.64% |
| 2016 | Barack Hussein Obama | $1,241,086,361,182.79 | $19,573,444,713,936.79 | 7.8% | 95.3% | 27.64% |
| 2017 | Donald John Trump | $671,455,302,116.72 | $20,244,900,016,053.51 | 3.4% | 37.7% | 21.34% |
| 2018 | Donald John Trump | $1,362,048,367,492.77 | $21,606,948,383,546.28 | 6.3% | 37.7% | 21.34% |
| 2019 | Donald John Trump | $420,475,731,272.32 | $22,027,424,114,818.60 | 1.9% | 37.7% | 21.34% |
| 2020 | Donald John Trump | $4,917,967,079,796.55 | $26,945,391,194,615.15 | 18.25% | 37.7% | 21.34% |
| 2021 | Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. | $1,483,527,375,433.53 | $28,428,918,570,048.60 | 5.5% | 28.23% | 22.02% |
| 2022 | Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. | $2,499,993,043,258.10 | $30,928,911,613,306.70 | 8.79% | 28.23% | 22.02% |
| 2023 | Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. | $2,238,422,431,416.50 | $33,167,334,044,723.20 | 7.24% | 28.23% | 22.02% |
| 2024 (so far) | Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. | $1,384,828,074,124.70 | $34,552,162,118,847.90 | 4.18% | 28.23% | 22.02% |
do you think GWB had only 7 years in office, or are you intentionally trying to blame clinton for bush’s first year?
No, it was actually just a Presidential listing error. If you checked the previous Presidents from Bush to Washington, you’d see that those were off by a year. What threw this off was the beginning/ending year of a President’s term(s). I had thought this was due to the JFK assassination, which occurred after the fiscal year ended, but it was actually a more simple mistake than that. This error has been corrected. All debts per fiscal year are correct – the President associated with said year, was the only thing off.
That being said, thank you for your comment and for bringing this to my attention. I do appreciate it.
Luckily, there’s only one other grid I need to update, which followed the same listing. Whew
Kevin, you are still off by a lot. The last fiscal year of each president’s term goes all the way to Sept 31 of the year they leave office. This means, the 2009 fiscal year, which BUSH passed through Congress in early 2008, ends in Sept 31, 2009. The 2009 fiscal year is Bush’s. The 2001 was Clinton’s. The 1993 was Bush Sr.’s and the 2017 will be Obama’s.
barque, this is a list by date. It’s up to the reader to understand how fiscal years and budgets are assigned.
It’s also up to the reader to do the follow-up research to see when final budgets are passed and signed. For instance, the final FY2009 spending bill/budget was signed off by Obama on March 11, 2009.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/29632177/ns/politics-white_house/t/obama-signs-massive-imperfect-spending-bill/#.V5N7GLiANBc
Understanding how TARP was spent is also helpful in this case. TARP was an enormous $700 Billion spending bill, where Bush used half during his term, and at the request of Obama, he left the second half to Obama.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-agrees-to-obama-bailout-request/
We cannot credit Bush for all of it, because that second half was all Obama’s, and of course, we know now that he spent it.
Elections occur every 4 years such as 2000 but the president does not take office till January of the following year 2001. Clinton was president for the entire year of 2000. Then again these are budget years which start in the prior year 1st of October 1999. Using true math and logic the first 3 1/2 months of 2001 budget year also belong to Clinton. Before you make statements please educate yourseves.
… LOL LOL LOL… You should check your spelling and understand the fiscal year as in accounting terms used by the federal government… The president and the two branches of Congress submit a budget that begins October 1st and runs till the last day of September of the following year… That would be the presidents budget who was in office during October 1st of that year and would be that same president and Congress is budget till the end of September of the following year… Hillary Clinton will work under the budget of Barack Obama and Congress until the end of September… Which would mean January 20th 2017 till the last day of September…
Hopeful Hillary is not president!!!
Bush did not take office until January 2001. Why would you count the 2000 debt against him?
Yeah, I know: math is so hard…
That gives Bush Jr a break. In reality is you should swap the 133 billion dollar debt which was a Clinton budget, for the 1.9 trillion in debt from 2009 which was actually a Bush Jr budget.
The president takes office in January. Thats when his term starts. If you are elected in 2000 you take office in 2001. It is not a listing error.
If G W Bush takes office in January 2001 his real first budget is 2002 and last is 2009. You can’t credit or blame any president for his first year budget because it is not his (or hers).
I’m going to repeat what I said up there ^, as this argument keeps coming up:
This is a list by date (year). It’s up to the reader to understand how fiscal years and budgets are assigned (and I help you by telling you when the FY ends, above).
It’s also up to the reader to do the follow-up research to see when final budgets are passed and signed. For instance, the final FY2009 spending bill/budget was signed off by Obama on March 11, 2009.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/29632177/ns/politics-white_house/t/obama-signs-massive-imperfect-spending-bill/#.V5N7GLiANBc
Understanding how TARP was spent is also helpful in this case. TARP was an enormous $700 Billion spending bill, where Bush used half during his term, and at the request of Obama, he left the second half to Obama.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-agrees-to-obama-bailout-request/
We cannot credit Bush for all of it, because that second half was all Obama’s, and of course, we know now that he spent it.
“It’s up to the reader to understand how fiscal years and budgets are assigned.”
The issue keeps coming up because the chart has misleading assignments for the transition years baked into it, with relevant caveats and admonishments buried here in the comments. Nobody wants to take ownership of 2009, but transition year budgets come from the prior POTUS and congress, with next to no wiggle room. Charts that obfuscate that fact tend to be characterized as partisan.
It came up 3 times out of 148 comments, and I’ve approved every comment made on this page.
The fiscal year ends during a President’s term, not the end of it. If you can’t comprehend that, then I’m not sure how to help you. The list is by term. It’s not a partisan list, as it just shows a consistent growth in debt from President to President. The dollar/percentage amounts assigned to each president are consistent throughout. A budget can be passed in a previous year, but that has absolutely no hold on how the money is spent in the following year. Passing a budget is not equivalent to spending money. Passing a budget merely issues allotments of tax revenue (and borrowed money) to the different elements of government. What happens after that (and especially during Obama’s term) is up in the air.
For instance, the military may be budgeted for $1 billion dollars in 2017, in the FY17 budget, passed in 2016, but military spending can surpass that amount by grandiose amounts, or it could be significantly lower under the President-Elect. Things change.
If you want to be lazy, that’s not my or this graph’s fault. It’s yours. This is a tool in the grand scheme of things. It’s a piece of the puzzle. It’s up to you to complete the puzzle, yourself.
For one thing, everyone keeps blaming and crediting Presidents with debt/deficits, but the fact remains that Congress has the power of the purse. Without Congress, there is no budget. The President requests a budget (if he’s competent) every February. The House & Senate pass budget resolutions, vote on appropriation bills, and send the bills to the President. If the President likes what he sees, he signs off on all appropriation bills and this finishes the budget process. So, clearly it’s a fallacy to blame everything on just a President. There’s typically a lot of back and forths, a lot of swooning and negotiating, etc. In the end, Congress should always be pushing for a balanced budget, and that rarely happens. There’s a lot of blame to go around.
This graph could become much more complicated, and I could choose to list this by FY, but then the Presidential listings would be off, since Presidents begin their term on January 20. You can’t please everyone, and I’m certainly not trying to.
Sure, nobody “wants” to take ownership of 2009, but the facts are: Bush spent half of Tarp and left half to Obama, at Obama’s request. Obama signed off on the FY09 budget during his first year in office. You can’t dispute facts.
Don’t blame Republicans for 1 year when the current administration (uh………DEMOCRATS have raised it By 10 trillion in 7 and a half years. This is kindergarten math.
I love how the Dems get all the blame and the GOP all the praise. I have no “dog in the race” but in the end this list may be off by a little but generally gets the main point across about how a President’s expenditures are logged. The really scary part for me is the ballooning of the debt irregardless of Party and now stands at 19.39 TRILLION dollars. The accumulation of debt, at this rate, just can’t be sustainable.
Congress has been controlled by Republicans. Congress spends the money. Why blame the President? The only reason is political sleight-of-hand.
And who approves the budget? Who signs off on new legislation? Who has the power to veto? Who has the power of executive orders?
The President.
can you count? GWB has 8 yrs on there… liberals are funny people.
are you stupid do the math
oh that’s right you voted Clinton and now you want to double the debt again
Make America Great Again
national debt set aside for a minute .i can’t believe the level of hateful comments and name calling . if we listened and worked together instead of dividing ourselves ~ we’d get a whole lot more done n every area of our government and the world . we have NO time for hate right now ~ we’re al in this together !!!
You should keep track of which policies added to our deficit.
In the last 10 years, the biggest drivers of our debt were the bush tax cuts (still the biggest element of the annual deficit), the wars, the medicare expansion – none of which was paid for.
I’ve actually been keeping track of that via the GPO. I understand your wanting to blame the wars for our unrelenting growth in national debt, but the reality is that Defense Spending only accounts for about 19% of total Federal outlays (spending). That includes the Bush AND Obama years. In fact, Defense Spending has been going up under Obama. The brunt of our spending, however, comes from “Human Resources” (which is the label that the Federal Government gave it), which covers Social Security, Income Security, Health, Medicare, Education, etc. Human Resources account for 65% of total Federal spending. Social Security, alone, accounts for 20% of total Federal spending.
I wish I had enough time in the day to make these grids and do the research, but I have a full-time job, in addition to a family. It’s difficult finding any time for my extracurricular activities, such as this site.
Why is social security considered part of the national debt..?? All the SS money comes from the working people and their employers. The government puts no money into this program but they do continually borrow from it. If they kept their crooked little paws out of this fund, SS would be secure through the century and they wouldn’t have this debt..!
Yes it burns me up as a 90yr old to see how they all ways rob ss for their other follies.
It has always been a pyramid scheme. Since its beginnings, the government expected to only have to pay out to a certain percentage of the population. Social Security kicked in at retirement. Most people retired at around 65yrs of age. Oddly enough, the life expectancy at that time was also 65yrs.
That being the case, the government could dip into SS without notice for many years to come. Now that people are living much longer (10yrs longer since the 80s, 15-20yrs longer since 2000) and still retiring at the age of 65, people are beginning to notice that SS isn’t paying out what it should, for one, and that the debt is increasing at a dramatically high rate. It’s unsustainable as it is, but it’s always been a Socialist scam.
That doesn’t mean people aren’t due what they put in… I think the government should hold up its part of the bargain. We’ve all put in and deserve what they promised, but they need to stop collecting at some point and end SS altogether. Start with newborns in 2017 or something… they wouldn’t be affected, since they would never have to put in. They’d have to pull money from other venues, though, so we’d have to cut spending in other Socialist projects.
Can I use HTML here? I calculated and sorted the above list from 1977 to date by percent of debt increase. It is interesting. I will try to post it in a second post but not sure what will happen with my HTML table.
1983Ronald Wilson Reagan20.59%
2009Barack Hussein Obama18.8%
1986Ronald Wilson Reagan16.58%
1985Ronald Wilson Reagan15.95%
1982Ronald Wilson Reagan14.45%
1984Ronald Wilson Reagan14.16%
2010Barack Hussein Obama13.87%
1991George Herbert Walker Bush13.36%
1990George Herbert Walker Bush13.15%
1977James Earl Carter12.64%
2008George Walker Bush11.29%
1992George Herbert Walker Bush10.89%
1988Ronald Wilson Reagan10.72%
1987Ronald Wilson Reagan10.59%
1978James Earl Carter10.4%
1981Ronald Wilson Reagan9.93%
1980James Earl Carter9.82%
1989George Herbert Walker Bush9.8%
2011Barack Hussein Obama9.06%
2003George Walker Bush8.91%
2004George Walker Bush8.78%
1993William Jefferson Clinton8.53%
2005George Walker Bush7.5%
2002George Walker Bush7.25%
2006George Walker Bush7.24%
1979James Earl Carter7.13%
2012 (so far)Barack Hussein Obama6.45%
1994William Jefferson Clinton6.38%
1995William Jefferson Clinton5.99%
2007George Walker Bush5.89%
1996William Jefferson Clinton5.04%
1997William Jefferson Clinton3.6%
1999William Jefferson Clinton2.35%
2001George Walker Bush2.35%
1998William Jefferson Clinton2.09%
2000William Jefferson Clinton.32%
WRONG ITS ALL OBAMMA’s FAULT
Priceless.
Whats Obama’s fault?
Your bad spelling?
If you lost 20% of what’s in your wallet or 3% of your life savings which is worse? Scale is important, we are talking about a single president who despite accruing more total dollars in debt than all his predesessors combined is still asking to spend more instead of looking to reduce spending…… that is Obama’s fault.
Not sure if you’re still around somewhere out there, but I finally found some time to update the national debt list above with this and additional information.
I also freshened it up a bit to make it more accurate.
Tim the 2009 Fiscal year was proposed by Bush in Feb 2008. It was passed and went into effect on Oct 1 2008 and went to Sept 31, 2009. The 2009 fiscal year is Bush’s. The 2017 fiscal year will start Oct 1 2016, about a month before the next election. It will go until Sept 31 2017, and will belong to Obama.
The table tags were stripped but you can still make it out. Sure doesn’t shine the “big spender” light on Democrats.
Nicely done.
Neither party is blameless. They’re both responsible for the massive debt we’re seeing, but one party is certainly the advocate for bigger government (which obviously adds to the bill of the tax payer).
Not sure if you noticed yesterday, but the debt finally reached $16 trillion..
How about the percentage increase under each President’s entire term? Homework. ;]
Bigger Gov?…like dumya’s 3 Trillion dollar adventure to Iraq? and dumbya’s 5 trillion in trickle down (not) tax cuts for the wealthy?
or dumbya’s & his gop lapdogs deregulation policy that cost the Country an economic meltdown & the loss of 25 trillion of taxpayer dollars overnight?
And The 800 billion that President Obama had to use to stimulate and rescue the economy from the dumbya depression.
that kind of big gov?
Deficit increase percent for full term:
Ronald Wilson Reagan 186.7% over 8 years
George Walker Bush 76.67% over 8 years
Barack Hussein Obama 57.06% over 3.6 years
George Herbert Walker Bush 56.19% over 4 years
James Earl Carter 46.3% over 4 years
William Jefferson Clinton 39.6% over 8 years
I’m wishing we could re-elect Pres. Clinton
No wonder business was so good under Reagan. He was giving away money and not collecting any.
I’d bypass Clinton and go for Truman or Eisenhower. They had the last true surpluses this country’s seen.
Kevin,
Trumans and Eisenhowers numbers are very skewed because of world events. The
world had basically come to a halt for 15+ years due to the Great Depression and then WWII. Those 17 years from the start of the Depression to the end of WWII there was great spending and less revenue for the country. After WWII, the world was free again and was rebuilding what had been destroyed in WWII. In addition, millions of young men in the US were back in the workforce and starting to have families. To give these presidents special status is clearly naive.
In the same way Obama is blamed for this current debt is clearly unfair. He took office at the worst possible time economically and is blamed for the debt rising when in reality he stopped us from going into another Depression.
The real culprit for our debt is tax breaks for the wealthy. Reagan and his tax breaks for the wealthy which permanently lowered their rates are still impacting us today. Throw in the Iraq war and further tax benefits for the wealthy and you have your reasons for this debt problem.
Credit Newt Gingrich for Clinton’s surplus. He had to shut down the federal government and few times but he cut Clinton’s spending.
The omnibus bill, hailed at the deficit buster, in addition to pay/go rules had the following:
Previously the top individual tax rate of 31% applied to all income over $51,900. The Act created a new bracket of 36% for income above $115,000, and 39.6% for income above $250,000.[2]
Previously, corporate income above $335,000 was taxed at 34%. The Act created new brackets of 35% for income from $10 million to $15 million, 38% for income from $15 million to $18.33 million, and 35% for income above $18.33 million.[3]
The 2.9% Medicare tax previously was capped to only apply to the first $135,000 of income. This cap was removed.
Transportation fuels taxes were raised by 4.3 cents per gallon.
The portion of Social Security benefits subject to income taxes was raised from 50% to 85%.[4]
The phase-out of the personal exemption and limit on itemized deductions were permanently extended.
The AMT tax rate was increased from 24% to tiered rates of 26% and 28%.[5]
Part IV Section 14131: Expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and added inflation adjustments.
Ultimately every Republican in Congress voted against the bill, as did a number of Democrats. Vice President Al Gore broke a tie in the Senate on both the Senate bill and the conference report. The House bill passed 219-213 on Thursday, May 27, 1993.[1] The House passed the conference report on Thursday, August 5, 1993, by a vote of 218 to 216 (217 Democrats and 1 independent (Sanders (I-VT)) voting in favor.
Gingrich bears none of the glory and all the foolishness for costing billions for his brinksmanship. His stunts had nothing to do with deficit control and everything to do with crushing popular government welfare state programs.
Crushing? The weight of entitlements born in the 60’s and artfully crafted by both parties to purchase votes ever since is what seems to be crushing your reasoning capacity.
While I’m no fan of ridiculous corporate and ag subsidies, and would love to see individual incomes that create no jobs ‘crushed’ once they approach 7 figures, unfettered Capitalism is far more successful at improving living standards than entitlements can ever hope to be. Make the evil corporations directly responsible for a common sense safety net and quit allowing the strong arm of the government to buy votes.
The Problem is that we are all being fooled with the slight of the hand Political hand of Politicians. All the Tax Brackets and stick it to the rich means nothing. All they do is pass it on to the Consumer/us and Raise their Prices/Salaries and Stock options to make up for the Tax Increases. Just remember every time they talk about raiseing Taxes they”re talking about the Consumer and the Lower Income People.
You do mean “debt increase” right? The deficit is a year by year calculation of budget shortfalls.
What will it be for Obama after 8 years?
FYI, FY2009 was primarily set by GWB, but you have it listed under Obama.
1.2 trillion before Obama even took office.
more than 85% of that deficit was GWB.
I’m not sure you understand how it actually works…
The budget was passed for 2009 under GWB, but Obama took office in 2009, thus the spending was conducted under Obama’s watch. How do you attribute spending to an administration that effectively has zero power at the time of the spending?
You’re wrong, recall Bush deferred to Ohbama, Pelosi and Reid for 2009.
Exactly. The FY2009 Budget was signed on March 11, 2009 by Obama.
Oh, I see you make the same mistake on every president.
effectively crediting GWB for Clinton’s final surplus.
this is a pathetic attempt at propaganda, con.
There’s no point arguing with idiots… Nice site you have there. Absolutely no agenda whatsoever. Especially with the use of “factcheck.org” as a primary source. How about looking at specific data, provided by the government, publicly available to anyone with the mind/intellect to utilize it? Because, if you hadn’t noticed… that’s exactly what this is.
Additionally, I would challenge you to do the same research, dating back to 1791. It’s not as easy as you think.
Of course, you’re just another sad excuse for an “informed citizen.” By that, I mean you’re not informed at all… and in fact, you’re part of the reason we have the problems we do, today. So, thank you for your contribution to society.
you want specifics?
1.2 trillion was the deficit prior to Obama.
its at 642 billion this year.
fastest deficit reduction in more than 60 years.
know how many times (R)’s reduce the deficit in the last 30 years? none, if you use inflation adjusted numbers. 2 if you use nominal dollars.
(D) presidents have seen the deficit reduced every year.
Excuse me? What the hell are you talking about? 642 billion this year?
Have you looked at my US Federal Budget by Year page? Again, I use accurate data provided by the US Government – specifically, the CBO and US Government Printing Office. I suppose you’ll tell me that they’re lying, next?
I never said Bush wasn’t a big spender. I didn’t agree with him for passing TARP, which is what the majority of that deficit is composed of. TARP was an enormous cost to the Tax Payers… and half of it could have been negated by Congress (which was a Democratic majority when Bush was President from 2006-2008, and remained in power until 2010).
Obama could have pursuaded Congress not to spend the rest of TARP, thus lowering the deficit of 2009, but he didn’t…
Look at Bush’s deficits in comparison to Obama’s… 2001-2008 vs 2009-2013. Obama dwarfs Bush two-fold in every year.
Bush’s biggest deficit, during his presidency, was $641 Billion. Admittedly, he owns half of 2009’s… which brings him up to $700 Billion.
Obama, however, owns $700 Billion of 2009 and then $1.3 Trillion in 2010, $1.3 Trillion in 2011, and finally $1.1 Trillion in 2012. But WAIT, we’re not done yet! He’s still got 2013-2016 to go!
$642 billion this year… right. Estimates put him at at least $900 Billion, and that’s being generous. Are you even accounting for Obamacare, which has yet to kick-in fully and now we’re actually finding out the true cost to the tax payer? Yeah, probably not. Know why? Because to you, facts don’t matter. You’re an embarrassment.
“Admittedly, he owns half of 2009’s… which brings him up to $700 Billion.”
That’s not how it works. The budget is set in early 2008 for the 2009 fiscal year. It is a Bush administration budget. He owns all of it. Almost. There was about $200 Billion added to the deficit based on Obama administration spending bills added in the stimulus after the 2009 fiscal year was already in progress. The other $1.4 Trillion in deficit was part of the Bush deficit. Bush owns 87.5% of the $1.6 Trillion.
Message to Kevin Bush – Thank you for gathering the data and displaying it as is. You didn’t have to create this site or provide much needed information. To the people who are slamming you, all I can say is there’s plenty of kool-aid around to be drank.
Keep up the good work and kudos for taking the barrage of bs that people are throwing your way.
Bottom line: There is no good answer. Politicians (all parties) need to lower their own income and benefits and that would GREATLY decrease our national debt. Term limitations should be set and the benefits should be comparable to other social security recipients. Stricter laws should be in place for social security distribution: You get back what you give. Nothing more. Nothing less.
As mentioned the biggest chunk of the budget is from “HR”.
Alas, try to get these politicians to give up their fancy lifestyles and cut their own paychecks and benefit’s to help the country. I’m afraid until this happens, we will continue to go down the drain.
Thank you Jenergy! Truly appreciate your comments. There certainly is plenty of kool-aid and my argument for Conservative ideals certainly doesn’t end with this site, so the nay-sayers on here are nothing new. I’ve been debating liberals for a lot of years.
And you’re right. There are no good answers. Republicans and Democrats are to blame for the out of this world spending and ever-expanding government. This country has fallen so far down the rabbit hole, that the citizens have lost sight of what we’re even supposed to be, anymore. Ask a Liberal and they’ll tell you we’re a Democracy… Heck, ask an establishment type on either side, and they’ll tell you the same thing, which is completely incorrect. We’re a Republic. A nation of laws.
We’re repeating age-old arguments, especially regarding economic policies. How anyone can argue the “virtues” of Socialism or Communism is beyond me, and the fact that we had a self-described Socialist running for the office of the President this year is probably the most tragic thing of all.
I’ve come to the point in my life where I have concluded that the Government is no longer an entity that works for us and has our best interests in mind (on either side), but rather a dictatorial regime (an oligarchy, if you will), taking advantage of the people of this nation and working for its own benefit.
Until all of the people realize that it’s no longer Republican vs Democrat, and that it’s Government vs Citizen, we can expect nothing to change.
You all are politically motivated in who spent what on what..who cares !!.. they are all robbing us blind. The day will come when the system will collapse from both parties spending. Then there will be no government services or checks. No such thing as something for nothing. When the lights go out and there is no food and your family is starving, it’s our own fault for supporting these criminal political and banking leaders
thank you for pointing out that both parties are to blame… congrease ya grease the palms..will always spend every dime they can… sad part the republicons …ya spelled it that way on purpose …are the party that says they are fiscally conservative.. what ever in hades that really means
You’re exactly right, Dan. Like I mentioned above, it’s no longer Democrat vs Republican. It’s Government vs Citizen, and we all need to wake up to that fact.
James, you’re also right. Republicans claim fiscal responsibility, but the proof is all up there ^. Whether we have a Democratic President and a Republican Congress, or a Republican President and a Democrat Congress, or whichever combination… we continue to get the exact same result. More spending, expanding government, more restrictions/regulations/laws, and less freedom.
We all need to wake up.
Thank you Kevin!!!!!
Oh, and it’s been a while since I updated the page. Just updated it for 2013, current date. Looks like your President is doing a bang-up job. He’s already on course for beating last year’s increase. Great job BO!
Keep supporting him – I’m sure you’re on the right side of history.
$ added to Debt since Obama’s election (4.5yrs ago): $6,712,521,203,086.37
$ added to Debt in Bush’s 8 years:
$4,217,261,484,712.43
According to you… that can’t possibly be right! In actuality, Obama has already surpassed Bush’s spending by $2,495,259,718,373.94 (or 59%).
Explanation?
so you don’t understand that the 1.2 trillion dollar bush deficit is NOT OBAMA’S POLICIES.
typically moronic conservative.
Obama’s policies have REDUCED that 1.2 trillion dollar deficit.
You’re clearly wrong… just go do some research. Look up TARP. See what actually happened, when it was passed. Then look at what happened in 2009. Obama owns half that budget deficit. His policies could have turned the tide, but they didn’t. In fact, he double-downed on stupid and continued the bailouts and stimulus packages.
I also see that you’re ignoring the years after 2009. No explanation for then, either? Idiot…
So you would rather he had let Detroit fail and put thousands across the country out of work? That sounds like the excuse the GOP uses for logic. Funny how you also never even mention all the good President Obama has done for the country and the world despite the GOP doing everything in their power to stop him. I also notice that despite your criticism of Democrats, you, like the GOP, offer no practical solutions. As a Vietnam Vet and independent thinker that actually has the education and intelligence to decipher the government offices manipulations of the numbers, I know how anyone can and often does interpret information the way that fits their purpose just as “W” did the intelligence regarding Iraq and WMD’s. In that case however, he fabricated the entire package because the real intel didn’t fit his plans for the Middle East. Do your number manipulations include the China credit card used for Iraq? I think not. Why? Because the GOP has gone to great lengths to hide all of it from the public eye. Too bad black hats like me know how to get to it anyway. I’m just smart enough to keep it to myself so I don’t get arrested.
let me try to spell it out for you.
when you try to blame obama for all debt added since he took office, you are pretending that the deficit reset to $0 and obama built it up with his own policies.
his policies added about 1 trillion to the debt since he took office.
the rest is the result of 2 recessions under GWB and policies passed under (R) congresses from 2001-2003
LOL… the economy started to tank in 2006, when Congress switched hands to Dems. Good luck in life, because you’re obviously living in a fantasy land.
Bush dug us out of two recessions, that were built on the backs of Clinton and 9/11. Nice try, though.
Thank God someone out there realizes the truth. Obama is clearly responsible for well over10 trillion dollars of our debt. Clinton was 100 percent responsible for the housing crash. His statement, “everyone deserves to own a home” is clearly false. His legislation is the direct source of the housing crash. Open up your eyes people and quit blaming the republicans.
It’s not rocket science. Income minus outgo = deficit. The devil is always in the details. Take an arithmetic course if you need it,
W inherited a recession from Clinton. He tried to deal with it using tax cuts. They did not stimulate the economy to the extent he expected, but they kept it a float for awhile. Obama inherited recession, deeper I admit, but he piled on social programs and a job killing ACA. Recovery has been very slow, Finally, the business cycle turned in his failure and the fed gave money away for seven years. Housing market recovered thanks to the fed. It’ is heating up again, but don not expect any activity. Obama is about legacy building and protecting our country by freeing terrorists.
Hindsight is wonderful, It’s never wrong. You may want to blame W for lack of oversight of the big banks, but it was the housing collapse that brought down the big banks and the economy. Please read Dodd-Frank for more clarity regarding the cause of the recession and W’s and the Congress’s failure to oversee the lenders,
Finally, please check your figures before railing against another post. My figures suggest that W contributed about 4.3 trillion to the overall deficit (while fighting two wars). Using bspittle’s rationale O contributed over 8 trillion dollars to the deficit if you include the projected deficit for 2016. Presidents are culpable, but they are never the whole story.
of the 7 trillion you blame obama for
only 15% is the result of Obama’s policies.
The only credit you’re due, is the 2009 budget. Obama is entitled to half of that, since Bush didn’t spend all of TARP or the additional bailouts/stimulus Obama passed in 2009.
FY2009 was primarily set by bush, but you blame Obama just like the right wing heritage propaganda site.
its really pathetic.
you don’t even realize you are pushing lies, do you
Who was President in 2009? Was Bush? No, it was Obama. Budget was passed under Bush (passed BY a Democratic Congress) and enacted by Obama. Did I blame Clinton for Bush’s spending? No. Take some fricking credit.
Obama didn’t “enact” Bush’s budget.
And Clinton’s budget includes the 2001 fiscal year.
And Bush Sr.’s budget includes 1993.
And Jimmy Carter’s included 1981. And so on.
the 2017 fiscal year is already set to start on Oct 1 of the this year. Whomever is the next president, will start working in February to get a budget put together which will take effect Oct 1 of 2017. It will be the 2018 budget and will be the new president’s FIRST budget. Obama owns everything up to Sept 31 2017.
Yes, Obama did “enact” Bush’s budget. He signed the final FY2009 budget on March 11, 2009. Not sure how many times I have to repeat this, but I’ve posted the sources supporting this fact on one of your other posts above.
Please read it.
Obama signed off on the final FY2009 spending bill/budget on March 11, 2009.
I believe that’s case closed… and you’re looking like an idiot.
Why don’t you go look at any other reference that isn’t so damned retarded?
My only references are the Departments of the US Government. Look it up yourself. Here’s a link to help you on your way: GPO
Quick question- are these amounts adjusted for inflation? I’ve checked the US Treasury site and I see no mention of whether their numbers are adjusted either.
Cheers, Kiff
Hey Kiff,
These amounts (in addition to the amounts touted by the US Government) are not adjusted for inflation. That would be a nice future project, though.
Upon further inspection: all numbers reported by the GPO are in “current” dollars.
That being said, here is an inflation calculator provided by BLS: http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
But this is wrong Obama is to blame. Because he screwed us up and putting us in the hole. if it was up to him the government would be shut down completely
bSpittle is clueless. He believes that once a budget is passed, money must be spent. That’s not true. The President could close down wasted ventures, or cut spending, under his authorization of the Executive Branch, which most Departments of the Federal Government fall under.
Don’t believe me? Just look at how he cherry picked what would be closed during the Government Shutdown.
He blames Bush for all of 2009’s spending, despite him not being President, which is just idiotic. The House passes Spending Bills, the Senate reviews and votes it pass/fail. If it passes, the President either signs off on it or vetoes it. Obama actually signed off on the FY2009 spending bill on March 11, 2009… so he can claim that if you don’t mind.
You did some amazing work, my friend. The internet is filled with fuzzy math references to U.S. spending, deficits, and debt. Its always got a political slant. You did the work and you presented the numbers. As is. And I appreciate that.
BSpittle was embarrassing himself, and you thoroughly refuted his argument.
Great job.
Thank you SirJames, I truly appreciate that. =]
How About Some Blame For The electorate?
If there were more citizen participation might politicians be in tune to our wishes?
You’re certainly not wrong, there!
It’s much easier to just click…
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt.htm
Sure, if you want bare minimum and not up-to-date information. The link I referenced as a source, would be a better bet, since it’s updated daily. Most people don’t even know where to look to get this information, without reading a news report. Also, the Treasury doesn’t present any of the additional information, such as the math for anything but accumulated debt, that I’ve found useful in my debates with liberals. If they do, it’s not easily accessed, which is another reason for my building this site.
Now I’m reminded to update these numbers again.
Just fyi, the 1840 data is incorrect. The site is listing a position debt for that year, but is subtracting it from the cumulative total.
Thanks for your comment. I was missing a negative sign on the added/subtracted debt line item.
Appreciate it and it has been fixed. =]
Thanks for this great page. I really enjoy showing people how much Obama has spent in relation to the rest of presidents. Notice that the pathetic liberal hasn’t shown his face in years or trillions of Obama’s democratic debt? Yet his disinformation propaganda website blames 17.3 trillion of the debt on others. Impossible from Obama’s spending alone!
An easy fact to destroy an empty headed liberal. Obama’s birth certificate is digitally fabricated. The .pdf can be downloaded and opened in Adobe Illustrator showing multiple layers, font types, and modifications to this day. Agenda 21 for the leaders of America, Israel. Which pulled off 911 by the way.
The idiot doesn’t learn from the wise man, but the wise man learns from the idiot.
You’re very welcome!
I had just updated the numbers for Obama, yesterday. Obama has nearly doubled the debt since he’s been President. Under him, and him alone, the debt has increased by 93.4%. Adding this large a percentage is not unprecedented, however, according to Obama pre-election, it was “unPresidential” to increase the debt by as much as President GWB, who added 76.7% during his two terms.
Obama is accountable for 48.3% of the entire debt (that would be $9,366,979,130,754.63 – $9.3 Trillion). This is more debt added than any other President in the history of the United States. In comparison, GWB is only accountable for 22.4% [haven’t had time to update this yet] ($4,350,546,687,025.63 – $4.3 Trillion (still a very large number).
Federal Government continues to serve itself and we keep getting sold down the river.
I’ll refrain from commenting on Israel & 9/11. =]
The last two columns, the “Term” columns, are repeated on each line for each Presidency.
First, they do not match the heading of “Term” which implies normally four or fewer years.
Second putting the final “Term” results in the years before the year that the Presidency ends is misleading.
.
Please leave the “Term” columns blank except for the last year of each Presidency.
That would give a quick indication that they are totals or accumulated percents.
.
Another option would be to change them to be running numbers instead of totals.
.
The Grover Cleveland split would stay as you have it so the split “Terms” would be different Presidencies.
Howdy, I’ve really been enjoying this, but there’s two questions I have. Please excuse the ignorance, trying to change that. 🙂
1: What date of each year is each of these numbers accurate? (i.e. 1915 Woodrow Wilson added $145,637,604.00 to the debt. Was this number recorded at the beginning of 1915, or closer to the end? And does the same time of year apply for each year?)
2: I read that Andrew Jackson in 1835 had the debt at 0 and even had some surplus. This chart has $33,733.05. Do you have some resources for me as to which is correct?
Never mind, madmilker gave the link I needed to start with, and it all fell in place from there. As it stands, Andrew Jackson had the debt at $33,733.05 on 1/1/1835, but on 1/8/1835 he announced the final bit had been paid. The United States of America was debt free. However, by 1/1/1836 the Debt was back up to $37,513.05.
Although, I really enjoy how you put the Presidents next to the years in this. Thank you a bunch for this. And this is easier to navigate too! (If I could make a suggestion. Could you put the date of each year’s numbers in there?)
Thanks again!
Thanks for stopping by Josiah!
Glad you found the link. I linked to the site in the intro at the top of the page, as well. The historical debt can be accessed on that same page from the left menu.
Each debt is taken at the end of the fiscal year (since 1977, that has been September 30). The beginning of the fiscal year has changed two times in the history of the country, from January 1 to July 1 (in 1842), and then again from July 1 to October 1 (in 1977). So, to answer your question:
Debt Years (in above chart):
From 1789-1841: December 31
From 1842-1976: June 30
From 1977-Now: September 30
I should add this to the intro. =]
Like your page. I believe the national debt to be the biggest threat to national security there is. Terrorism pales in comparison but get the most attention. If the goal is to bankrupt the USA then it is working.
Thank you Steve. I couldn’t agree more. Our real fall will be from within – not from external forces.
Pingback: A Solid Silver Surge. - Pacific Coin Exchange - Coin Dealers San Diego
I love this chart, very eye opening. While I agree there is no one party to blame, I am surprised that none of these comments reflect the downward spiral the began under FDR. Not to mention the fact that putting millions of people on the public dole hog tied us to spending that lasts even to this day. Then welcome the presidency of LBJ where even more future spending was tied up and promises made that would be kept by future generations. Obama has done exactly the same with the ACA. Making promises that we can’t keep now, but will saddle future generations with even more debt. It is eye-opening to be reminded that Clinton wasn’t too bad in retrospect 🙂
You’re exactly right on all accounts! Well said. The only thing I’d add is where the Community Reinvestment Act comes into play w/ Carter & Clinton.
Pingback: Why Millennials Don't Suck (And Baby Boomers Do) - The Informed Millennial
Thanks for posting this data. I have a question. I see from other websites that the federal budget ran a surplus from 1998 to 2001 which included on-budget as well as off-budget items. Yet the federal debt increased during all four of those years if I am reading your data correctly. Can you enlighten me on how this works? I’m assuming some clever government bookkeeping here. Thanks.
The pleasure is all mine. Yes, during those years, their was a “budget surplus,” but the debt still went up. The problem is that that’s inherently false, and actually… this claim that there was a surplus is actually more sinister than you might think.
The National Debt is made up of Public Debt (what the people “borrow” from the government) and Intergovernmental Debt (what the government “borrows” from itself) [More here: https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/resources/faq/faq_publicdebt.htm#DebtMakeup%5D.
When people talk about the surplus under Clinton, it was two-fold. First, they did balance the budget in a couple of years [see here: https://polidiotic.com/by-the-numbers/us-federal-deficit-by-year/%5D. While they did this, “Public Debt” was actually decreased. However, in order to pay off the Public Debt, they needed to borrow money from the Federal Government… thus, there actually never was a surplus, but rather more of a deficit, since they borrowed more money from things like Social Security (mostly – and why this is all the more sinister) than they actually payed off in the Public Debt (treasuries, savings bonds, etc).
So, you’re right. It is clever government bookkeeping, and especially so, for those who don’t know where to look for this information. This is one of the reasons I set this site up (aside from always having to research this information, time and time again, during every debate regarding the debt). Ease of access. =]
Hope that helps!
-Kevin
that clears it up. Thanks again.
All of you miss the point!
The government does not borrow money from itself at ALL.
The only time this has really happened is when Lincoln created the “Greenback Notes” or “United States Notes” these notes were borrowed from the Treasury because Lincoln didn’t want to borrow money from foreign banks. The “Rothschild’s” (owners of the Bank of England) who were trying to start a central bank in the USA in 1863. This never happened but as a result it is the theory of the real reason Lincoln was killed. Then almost exactly 50 years later some of the same people some of whom were connected or fronting for the “Rothschild’s” (owners of the Bank of England) the Federal Reserve act was past on December 23rd, 1913 and the first Federal Reserve notes were printed in 1914. The Federal Reserve loans money to the USA (which is money that does not exist) and we pay interest to these 12 banks, most of which are foreign banks. They are not allowed by the Federal Reserve to be named who they are and who owns them. The Federal Reserve is not really Federal but a Private corporation incorporated in Delaware in 1913 and is not part of the federal government but has five appointed government employee’s. These employee’s are not even paid by the government but by the reserve itself. This is the World’s Biggest Scam, even Woodrow Wilson admitted later on that he had sold his soul to the devil. At the beginning of 1914 the USA had the following types of Currency: Gold & Silver coins, United States notes (borrowed from the treasury), individual Bank note currency (issued by the treasury for banks with money on deposit), Silver certificates (redeemable in Silver), Gold Notes (redeemable in gold) and the first Federal Reserve notes (which the first ones were redeemable in gold). By 1933 the gold coins were removed from circulation by F.D.R. and set the price from $20 an ounce to $32 an oz. giving his Federal Reserve buddies a $12 an oz. raise. The gold notes were no longer redeemable in gold, the United States Notes and the Bank backed notes were eliminated. The silver certificates were last printed in 1957 and were no longer redeemable after 1969. We went off the silver standard in 1965 and we have spent copper-nickel coins ever since (with the exception of 40% silver half dollars minted to redeem silver certificates up until 1969. 1970 issues were only minted for sale in U.S. mint sets you had to buy). Here is the kicker J.F.K. did not want to borrow money from the Fed reserve anymore so he enacted the “United States Notes” that Lincoln used to print Treasury backed notes issued from 1963 to 1966 (called Red-Seal notes). After J.F.K. was assassinated these notes were eliminated and we have spent ONLY Federal reserve not ever since! (coincidental?) Now think about this in terms of our national debt. We now pay over a Trillion dollars a year in interest to a private entity that had no money to start with?
If you study the accumulated debt since 1914 (Woodrow Wilson) it went up drastically, mostly after we entered WWI, but think about it the Fed reserve made money on the war by charging us interest! Also the income tax was introduced to pay for the war and supposed to be temporary LOL. But the following two Presidents, Harding and Coolidge had paid the debt off by nearly 50% in only eight years (during the roaring 1920’s). This was not supposed to happen so the Fed tightened up the money supply to a trickle and caused the largest wall street crash in history Black Friday October 29th 1929. (this is why the Federal Reserve was created to prevent). After F.D.R. was installed as President he took us off the Gold Standard Act of 1904 and the national Debt increased drastically ever since and almost none of the debt has ever been paid ever since? With the exception of one year under Truman and one year under Eisenhower, none of the debt has ever been paid, it has only increased Period.
So who were the winners from this? The foreign banks that own the Federal Reserve System!!
I hear again and again that there was a surplus under Clinton, this is pure garbage! They have confused the public with the words Deficit and Debt for decades, Clinton had a surplus on the amount of taxes were collected for those years budget. If we have a deficit this is the shortfall from collecting taxes that is added to the National Debt (the accumulative total that we owe). Not one cent of the debt has been paid since 1956 according to this list, check it out!
We have been flim flamed for years by the unconstitutional Federal Reserve System ever since 1913. The number DO NOT LIE. This is the REAL story from this list, the closest we have ever been to being debt free was under Jackson we only owed $33,733.05 in 1835, look at the numbers!!!
I want to correct myself on three numbers:
Herbert Hoover paid down the debt in 1930 and 1931, Harry Truman paid three years 1947, 1948 & 1951.
Eisenhower paid some of the debt in 1956 and 1957 but 1957 was the very last time any of the National Debt was EVER paid down.
Kennedy printed 4.3 billion of treasury notes to , to avoid borrowing from the banks. .got a bullet in the head for it also.
Pingback: Black Coffee: The Full Metal Jacket Edition - Len Penzo dot Com
I do not find the discussion of the national debt very enlightening when it is being used to rank or rate Presidents, and particularly so when it is being used to condemn or commend a President, or Presidents. The percent change from one year to the next is an illusive figure because, for instance, a 2 % increase of a national debt of 10 trillion dollars is an increase of 200 billion and it takes a 4% increase of a 5 trillion dollar deficit to equal the same increase of 200 billion. These numbers really have to be adjusted for inflation and even then I do not think them very informative for making the point for which they appear to be offered. It seems to be a case in point of how numbers and statistics can seem to be objective on their face, but are not because they are removed from the context of their origin. It wouldn’t seem to be an authentic means of comparing the overall increase in the national debt if you do not take into consideration the growth of GDP during the periods being compared. It is somewhat of a gross simplification, using personal income as an analogy, a person making 100,000 dollars a year can easily withstand a debt of $5,000.00 while a person making $25,000.00 a year would be very stressed at the same debt figure. It is not the debt as an abstract number that gives information, but the ability to pay the debt that is important. That’s why I think looking at each years budget deficit as a percent of GDP is a better way to look at the performance of a President (and/or congress for that matter). But again, just using pure numbers about the national debt does not give information that is relevant to rating and ranking Presidents because the ignore the state of the country at the time the numbers are generated. There would seem to be a very big difference in one’s view of the justification for an increase in the national debt if you were looking at why the increase occurred. For instance, increasing the debt because of WW II, would seem to be a justifiable increase, where as an increase for the Iraq war would not (at least in my mind). I may well be wrong, but the best way to judge a President’s, or congress’s performance is to live long enough to have experienced what was going on historically during different administrations. At 67 I think I’ve got a good sample by which I can make my own judgments about President’s and congresses. A recitation of numbers removed from the context of the period in which they were generated is not a substitute for experience.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, this posting has encouraged me to look into something that I have been curious about for some time. Reagan was credited with excellent growth of the economy because of the tax cuts he ushered in. This has been heralded as proof that supply-side economics work, which disproves the Keynsian theory of economics. However, as we all know, Reagan increased government spending and the size of government (look at the growth in the number of fed. employees). So, how much of the economic growth that occurred during Reagan’s years can be attributed to his tax cuts and how much to his increase in governmental spending which is Keynsian?
Technically Reagan in total did not lower taxes. Specifically his 1982 tax base expansion grossly overwhelmed his tax cut. More importantly after this tax increase is when the economy took off for Reagan. It could be argued that the tax increase is what caused the Reagan economic expansion. Also, the Clinton tax increase could be argued as the cause of the Clinton economic expansion. So far when you look at tax cuts versus tax increases (as long as the majority of the tax increase is shouldered by the well to do) the tax increase seems to be more apt to foreshadow an economic expansion than a tax cut.
Randy, assuming that your grand conspiracy-theory is correct, and they used that gold to start an english bank in the US, problem = what’s the next step? Fine them? Give them a fine of several trillion dollar plus interest? Lifetime enprisonment? After a trial they’d long be dead, especially with their lawyers. Or simply death? Plus a problem is: *WHO* are you going to punish? The one’s who started the bank? They’re long gone. Sometimes even if you do know the crimes, it’s not always easy to consider the punishment.
Simply have the Supreme court declare the Privately owned Federal Reserve System declared unconstitutional because it is unconstitutional. The money is supposed to be minted by the U.S. Treasury Department not the Federal Reserve and taxes are supposed to be paid to the U.S. Treasury Department not the Privately incorporated in Delaware “Internal Revenue System”. By the way I didn’t say to punish anyone we just need to stop paying a bunch of banks that never had the money to start with. If anyone of us were to do what the Federal Reserve System has done we would be jailed for check kiting!!!!!
This is Not a Grand Conspiracy Theory what so ever! The laws passed are all there look it up! Read the creature from Jeckle Island, this may help change your mind about your opinion of a Grand Conspiracy Theory to a Grand Conspiracy FACT!!!!!
Even Woodrow Wilson that signed the Federal Reserve act to reality, later on in life regretted doing so and thought he had sold his soul to the devil. Under the agreement we are not even allowed to know who really owns the banks that make up the Reserve that allows us to print our own money!!!!
I feel sorry for you if you really think that this is a theory at all*** I will pray for you when the country goes bankrupt with a strangling debt. We owe over 19 trillion dollars and pay 2.4 trillion PER YEAR to a group of PRIVATE BANKS. This is completely unsustainable. Within eight years if we don’t add a cent to the debt we will owe over 38 trillion and be paying 4.8 trillion in interest to the same PRIVATE BANKS!!! But sadly we will go bankrupt before then and you can rip up our constitution and bill of rights because we will turn into a wasteland. I hope you can speak Cantonese?
We currently only collect 3.5 trillion in taxes every year for the Federal government but the Federal Reserve gets paid first! This leaves us with only 1.1 trillion to pay for everything else!!!! How much do you think your taxes would be if we were paying 4.8 trillion to the Federal Reserve? We will default and the entire government will change. From 509 B.C. to 27 B.C. Rome was a Republic just like the USA is now! but after losing their grip on reality on taxing and supporting people that didn’t work, Rome was turned into a Imperial Dictatorship, which went broke again from paying Tribute money to others to make them friends. Once they ran out of cash the Visigoth Alaric breached Rome in 410 A.D. and by 476 A.D. the once Great Roman Empire ceased to exist.
We are simply repeating the exact same mistakes and these are facts and not a conspiracy at all. History always repeats itself if you do not learn from the errors.
We are toast if we keep thinking it is a theory!!!!! Wake up man!!!!
I think it’s great that nearly four years after Kevin Bush published this information there is still active review/comment/debate. A real value. Thank you Mr. B.
If we put the Republican/Democrat bickering aside… This month was the first time I saw this data. What strikes me is:
1. Our national debt has been increasing for the last 88 years. Calvin Coolidge was the last President to operate a balanced budget — to pay down the debt.. Every administration since, from Herbert Hoover to Barack Obama, has taken us further into debt. (The occasional budget surplus for any year(s) was always negated by the end of the term of every President. No exceptions.)
2. All money bills originate in the U.S. House of Representatives, Constitution, Article I.
3. Whether the U.S. House of Representatives was controlled by the Democrats or the Republicans, it always voted to spend money it did not have, so adding to the debt.
Despite many, many promises made on the campaign trail by members of Congress of both parties to “reduce spending”, neither ever did. At best, the so-called “reduction” was a reduction in the rate of increase. Sometimes.
So today, why would anybody vote to send a Democrat or a Republican to Congress?
As far as the part of your ballot for Congress, a vote this November for anyone besides R or D ought to shake the “establishment” to its core, don’t you think?
Let’s do that!
Right on Rob,
If we would have elected Ross Perot in 1992 instead of Bill Clinton, there is a distinct probability that we would not have a national debt right now!
BTW if anyone remembers that Ross said if we went ahead with NAFTA (which both the paid for Democrats and Republicans supported), that “you would hear a Giant Sucking Sound” of companies moving to Mexico!
What do the people of Detroit think of Ford Motor moving to Mexico?
What do the people of Chicago think of Nabisco moving to Mexico?
What do the people of Indianapolis think of Carrier air-conditioning moving to Mexico?
Just to name a few.
I looked on the side of certain Tootsie Roll Pops my grand children eat, some of these are made in Mexico? We can’t even make a Tootsie Roll Pop? Give me a break!!!
Face it the establishment politicians are being paid to the core to sink our country and it seems to be a race to be the party in power once we go broke. So they can be the ones in power to start the New Government, with completely New Rules!!!
And your right!
Thanks Kevin Bush for compiling and providing this valuable information and a forum for discussion!
Hi Rob L. you are correct the debt continues to rise no matter which party is in “power”. Makes you wonder if our elected officials are the problem after all. I’m working on research that has identified 4 intractable problems our country is facing (I’m also determine to find realistic solutions). I’ve shared number three below.
3. The voting population has become increasingly disengaged from the governmental borrowing process and feels less obligated to the outcome.
And…
* Because they are overly dependent on government spending to manage their day to day lives. They fear what will happen (say losing a job/income) if they interfere politically i.e by voting against spending causing the borrowing to stop.
* Increasingly willing to “sell” their vote to the political party that promises to either raise taxes for more “entitlement spending” or decrease taxes and cut spending in general, no matter if the future consequences of the spending growth or revenue loss are bad for the country.
* Likely to answer NO if asked the question “do you agree that you and your fellow Citizen’s own an equal share of the current and growing national debt?
Follow up question: What would you do if you received a bill in your mailbox asking for a payment on your share of the national debt? A. pay it immediately and ask for a receipt B. Throw it in the trash and ignore future payment requests C. Pay the bill then call your congress person and tell them with no uncertain terms to vote to shut down the spending machine and vote to raise taxes immediately to lower the debt
Sorry Kevin, I appreciate your effort to educate readers (as honestly as you can) on the extent of the debt problem. But I don’t think I’m alone when I say, I grow weary of all the jibber jabber back and forth posing as a solutions. The DEBT isn’t the problem it’s a symptom. What’s got to change is “we the people”! The government just reflects our will or lack thereof.
Don’t believe me? Ask you readers to answer the questions “Do you agree that you own an equal share of the national debt? Would you put it in writing and commit immediately to begin paying off your share?”
It’s really troubling the mess we’re in but so that my son can have a brighter future my answer to the question is YES send me the bill (dammit! 🙂
Omg! the debt is now 19 Trillion!
It’s OK, take big breaths in and out and swing your arms around. That many zeros is not easy for most of us to comprehend. Here: $19,000,000,000,000. Does that make it easier?
Well, how about if we break it down: $59,000 for you, $59,000 for me and $59,000 for every other citizen of the United States?
Oh dear. Are you hyperventilating again?
I think you bring up a great point I’d like to emphasize. Congress must approve the expenditures made by the President. It’s not Obama this or Bush that. Yes, the President requests the money but Congress must approve all the expenditures.
Reagan convinced Congress, and all of us, that the “deficit doesn’t matter”. He said that over and over again.
Obama was faced with the scariest economy since the great depression. TARP began under Bush and continued under Obama. But, in nominal dollars, we got the TARP money back so it wasn’t as bad as we think (however, the effect of inflation is not included).
Remember, it’s Congress, not the President, who decides how much money may be spent.
I maybe wrong but believe that nafta had something to do with it. These dollar store jobs replacing manufacturing jobs. Now the new tpp trade agreements. Dollar trees coming soon. Everything for a buck. More loss of manufacturing. Our products are treated unfairly in ports and taxed at a different rate when they come here released from port much faster and taxed less. Losing that many manufacturing jobs to substandard retail jobs leaving that many more people receiving partial govt. Benefits is insanity. Where I’m from everybody blames jobs leaving on unions but they must not consider the biggest unions of all, with thier associated costs and that’s the public sector.
Yup; of all of organized labor, public sector unions do the most damage by far to the economy of the United States — at the expense of the taxpayers, of course.
Pingback: Us Debt Rate By Year | Best Pennystocks
This is quite informative, but pales in comparison to the total liabilities of the federal government. As of last count, this nation is over 64 trillion in funded debt which includes the interest payments on that debt. Now, add in the unfunded debt they hide from us and you get something in the neighborhood of almost 102 trillion in net U.S. liabilities.
It appears to be some sort of giant ponzie scheme to me and in the end, the tax-paying citizens will be the one taking it in the shorts. However, let us not forget the poor and those living below the poverty level. When it collapses, who suffers the greatest loss … the individuals that do not have the means or the resources to sustain themselves, that is who. The uber-wealthy will not suffer at all.
Amen Brother!
Someone that really gets it and truly understands the facts. A great website to put on your computer screen is usdebtclock.org I watch it constantly! Every man, woman and child should be watching this on a daily basis. watching the numbers roll faster then anyone can count.
Then take a look at the actual unemployment figures of 94,000,000 people, thats a third of the country! That’s a third of the country that gets magically employed after eight months of collecting unemployment. People that are completely ignored and forgotten by the U.S. government.
Although even the so-called rich will suffer if what they own is not completely paid off once the crap hits the fan. You can put your ATM into the machine and nothing will come out and you can take the cash and burn it in a barrel to keep warm like the South did after the Civil War. Gold, Silver, Whiskey, Rice, Bullets, Guns and other actual needed things will be all that has value to survive in the lower sectors. Sixty to eighty percent of the population will not survive over a year of total strife. Anarchy will prevail for awhile and many will be relocated by FEMA. The government will turn into something completely different then what we have now! It’s happened again and again in history, we never seem to learn?
We can prevent this simply by not paying the Federal Reserve System and tax imports fairly and bring back manufacturing to our country. All the business always flows back to the strongest money (real money – not fiat currency.)
Wow.
Here’s a Ponzi quote: On April 30, 1999 economist and Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman described Social Security as “The biggest Ponzi scheme on earth.”
Ten years later Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme would get him 150 years in federal prison.
I guess if you’re gonna do it and get away with it you need to be a federal official.
By the way,
Is there anyone else out there that knows why Tax day is April 15th?
Okay since nobody answered my question.
Tax day April 15th was named as tax day because Abraham Lincoln died on April 15th 1865. (this is a fact)
The banking elites hated the fact that Lincoln The “United States Notes” none as the “Green Backs” borrowed from the Treasury and not any “Central Bank” without interest!!!!
Once the Federal Reserve was started the Internal Revenue Service was installed as the watchdog for the Fed. The taxes were intern collected by the IRS and NOT the Treasury which had collected the taxes previous to the Federal Reserve being installed. Oops the Privately incorporated IRS!!!!!!
This date was selected on purpose just to smear after his death. It might actually say something of why he was killed and why we eventually went for the corrupted Federal Reserve System! Also a possibility why Kennedy (might have been killed) for printing the very same notes! The “United States Notes” or “Red Seal Notes” minted from 1963 to 1966.
actually known as the “Greenback Notes” and they hated the fact that Lincoln printed these notes!
Randy, the IRS is a bureau of the Treasury Department
No it’s not this is a complete myth! It was Incorporated in Delaware as a private corporation! Just like the Federal reserve was in 1913. The myth of these organizations being part of the government was done so we would swallow the complete garbage behind them both! Just like you have swallowed it.
Read the creature from Jeckle Island. We are supposed to pay our taxes to the Treasury Department!
There was no need for the IRS that’s what the Treasury Department is supposed to do!!!!
The IRS is a privately owned watch dog for the privately owned Federal Reserve!
Look up the incorporation papers and documents!!! Sorry but you are completely misinformed, keep drinking the Koolaid.
I have a way for the feds to fix the debt. It’s called the legalization of marijuana and tax it much as Colorado has (8.80 Million dollars in tax Revenue) seems to me that might work to fix the problem.
Hi Jessy,
Interesting you should say this? In 1979 when I lived in CA a radio station KMET did a study or found out about a study. This study said at the time if the Federal government would tax Marijuana $200 an ounce, which at the time most went for about $250, that this would have paid off the current national debt at that time in about FIVE YEARS! There was a big push at that time to legalize Marijuana and if it would have happened our country would have been much better off in my opinion then the possible negatives the legalization of Marijuana would have brought with it. Canada just recently legalized it country wide only a few days ago!
It seems as if our government never thinks ahead for us “the people” that elect them! They are only interested in their own self preservation and lining their pockets.
I know at the time Ligit & Meyers (L&M) or Philip Morris would be tickled pink to have made $50 a pack on anything! And the same would be true today! If it were taken to the commercial level like this The Feds could tax it $400 an ounce and Ligit & Meyers or Philip Morris would still be tickled pink to have made $50 a pack, oz or whatever.
I really don’t think that Colorado it doing it right, they need to go to bigger people like the tobacco companies, have them get into the action so they could tax it much higher!!! Make it a real competitive market, chase out the Mom and Pop places they have now and REALLY MAKE IT PAY OFF for Colorado. This would off-set the negative press in the media if CO can pay off all their own debt as an example!
I like your thinking though because it would certainly help. But ONLY if the money was used directly to pay off the debt and nothing else. Then Have the Supreme Court declare the Federal Reserve unconstitutional and stop paying interest on money the Reserve NEVER had!!! Once we have gotten out of the debt the same funds can easily pay for many of the other things we need. Rebuild the military, Fix our crumbling infer-structure and pay for many social programs once they’re trimmed to a reasonable level. This way we could actually lower taxes, go to a flat tax and EVERYONE would me happy! What a concept!
Once we had sound money again all the business would flow our way as it has in the past. We can bring back manufacturing, create job training and re-training for people of ALL AGES. There are many older U.S. citizens that have been left out in the cold and forgotten because the job market and has changed so much and many will have to continue working into their 70’s or even 80’s just to stay afloat because Social Security just won’t cut it for most people anymore. Retirement will only be for the wealthy or the lucky ones that planned right and nothing took away their funds.
See how much good this idea would actually do!!!
I Really like your thinking!!!
man what a gem i stumbled upon. Things like this make you wonder how people can put a political stamp on any economic policy. For us its either your solvent or your bankrupt, for them spend trillions and blame it on the last guy, or the rich people not willing to pay enough. Don’t think we’ll ever get back to a flat tax or a federal government without Keynesian worshipers. Thanks for all the hard work man that made my night a lot easier!
No problem at all! Thanks for stopping by! =]
I should be able to figure this out with a little cross checking, but I’m being lazy. Are these adjusted dollars and if so, to what year?
Thanks for the excellent work. Glad to see your comment section is relatively troll-free. That’s a refreshing surprise.
nice chart but what I want to know is where the national debt was the day each president took office?
What happened to the congress in 2006? It would be great to see what the house/senate split was during the same years…..Some presidents were helped, others hurt by the congress that was in office during their tenure.
Pingback: Obama: 'You CAN'T Build' That, 'You Didn't Build That,' 'You Were Lucky' - Page 2 - Political Wrinkles
Pingback: Obama: 'You CAN'T Build' That, 'You Didn't Build That,' 'You Were Lucky' - Page 3 - Political Wrinkles
Pingback: Why are all the longest periods of sustained surplus followed by depressions?
This is quite a wake up call. Remember Clinton always (and still is ) bragging about balancing the budget. I guess they all do that, at the expense of the national debt. This country is about 50 years away, maybe less, of going the way of Greece. Sooner or later socialism fails, when the people who are paying the taxes and the expenses of those who don’t are exceeded by the “those who don’t” And when government burdens citizens and businesses with extreme regulations.
I’m in my late 70’s. I remember the good old days, we had local schools and they were very good schools (before unions took over) I started learning Latin in the 8th grade and by the time I got to high school, I had a choice of advanced Latin, French, Spanish or German for language choices. Our state had no income tax, no sales tax, no lottery. We have all three now, and it seems that half of the population works either for the federal or state or town governments. With all of this money coming in our state still runs deficits. . How did the government get so top heavy in just 50 years?
I worry for the next generation.
By the time Obama leaves office , he will have the dubious distinction of having been the president who doubled the nation debt in his term. I don’t see any way out of this hole either. Affordable Health is not affordable. And the supreme court just ruled he could not use money evidently owed to health insurance companies without congressional approval. Now this transgender nonsense. I’m glad I won’t be around too much longer..I don’t want to live in his world.
.
Good riddance you old bat.
Be nice.
go someplace else to harass people that are critical thinkers that actually care about our country. We learn this through the study of the past.
of which you are obviously NOT a thinker what so ever!!!!
It will take some time, but if we abolish the FED and we will see the debt reduce. We are paying interest for “air” I am just saying.
Awesome a critical thinker!
It is so simple to fix, we need to have it declared unconstitutional and just quit paying them! They lend us money that they NEVER had, it’s the best form of slavery that was ever invented!!!!
You must have read some of my earlier comments?
Keep waking people up! The previous gentleman thought maybe in 50 years the collapse will happen, I really think it will be much sooner. Especially when the other countries figure out that we have been selling all their gold kept under the Brenton-Woods agreement since 1946, just to prop up the value of the dollar and pound down the real value of gold & silver. They are not going to say: oh that’s alright and press the reset button. No way! You will see the collapse of the new Roman empire.
It would be very useful to include GDP along side.
Kevin B, Appreciate your work . . . reminded of Alex DeToquville – France who early in 19th century declared that “America is great because America is good. America will cease to be great once it ceases to be good and America will cease to be good once it learns it can vote itself personal gain (i.e. steal) from its public coffers.” Our forefathers understood this. Easy to see where we started to come “off-the-track”, not to mention the perils due to creating the Fed Reserve, leaving the gold standard, etc.!!! Dollars now have no intrinsic value and we are now well down the foolish “slippery slope”. . . just see what is going happen over next 5 – 15 years.
Thanks again, DW
You must be very careful when talking about and making deductions about the national debt. For example, it is obvious, is it not, that the government must spend before they can collect taxes? Before the government spends there is nothing in the economy to tax.Hence, taxes do NOT pay for government operations. The cycle is SPEND>TAX, not TAX>SPEND. Thinking about the cycle the necessary function of taxes becomes obvious. After spending the government must, in order to maintain price stability, redeem money from the economy and we call that process taxing. Hence, the government spends and then extracts/destroys a portion of the money in the economy, leaving some for the functioning economy. As this process proceeds we can see an identity developing; National Debt = Money in the Economy. It is not this simple in totality but we can say with accuracy Money in the Economy is proportional to the National Debt. Other events reduce the money in the national economy such as foreign trade, money lost and destroyed and money moved by banks from the economy to bank reserves. There is a very profound message from these facts. A balanced budget would result eventually in a deflated money supply and all the ills that will bring with it. Hence, proper policy is to always have an increase in the debt with the object of maintaining price stability and expansion of the economy as limited by increases in resources, resources being both physical and labor available in the economy.
There is nothing to tax until the government spends? You,sir, are a moron. Government is not the source of money.
You are a moron. Wealth is created in the private sector. Always has been. Always will be. In order for the government to fund itself, it must tax it’s citizens to raise money before it can spend it. I’m not going to further argue with you though. If you are so economically illiterate you think the government creates money, which is merely a tool for the echangeneral of wealth, then I don’t have the time for you except to inform you of your mind-numbing ignorance. Have a nice day.
Thank you for setting this guy straight!
While you are exactly correct, he is partly correct. Because when you deficit spend the borrowing and taxing have a destructive symbiotic relationship. If you deficit spend the economy depends on the extra cash flow to allow the economy survive but if this procedure is suicidal. Now we are probably at the point of no-return but I would at least see someone try to fix it instead of the alternative of becoming a dictatorship. The guy is right about the fact that as we pay down the debt that our economy will suffer but its better to suffer than to lose everything!
What happens when yo can’t pay your credit cards?
i dont care
The Federal Reserve and IRS are private corporations. MONEY paid to the IRS DOES NOT GO TO THE GOVERMENT. IT GOES TO THE PRIVATE FEDERAL RESERVE AS AN INTEREST PAYMENT.
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THE INTEREST RATE IS ? Please
Thank you so much for the confirmation! You are exactly right!
The Federal Reserve and the IRS are indeed completely privately owned and incorporated organizations in Delaware in 1913. Look it up! There are incorporation papers if you bother to look.
If you really want to see everything that is current in a nutshell go to: usdebtclock.org
You will see everything you want to know from the national debt in real time to the entire debt including all the States. The interest rate we pay on the debt which is just about 11% interest per year. This is an amazing tool that has everything from the total unemployed which is 94+ million people. The amount of privately employed and the total with the government employed which of course are paid for by the privately employed and so are the 94 million unemployed. The figures are staggering but very informative and interesting study. There is tons of current info!
Keep in mind we pay about 2.4 trillion in interest to the Fed each year and we only collect about 3.5 trillion in taxes each year! (and this is at Obama’s rate of taxing). This only leaves 1.1 trillion to pay for everything else! Imagine if all the taxes were spent on fixing our country instead of the unconstitutional and illegal Federal Reserve and IRS corporations?
Please everyone take a look!!!!! usdebtclock.org
Thanks
Why don’t we pass National Health Care? Paid for by a consumption tax.It would end one of the largest drivers of our governments spending increases. And I never hear about this but would it not also help lower our local and state taxes by taking the burden of providing health care benefits to their workers and retirees? Also it should help with the discrimination that older Americans face when looking for work by removing employers from the health care equation…….