The National Debt is a Problem
Republicans are better at addressing this, right?
Republicans are better handling the Economy, Right?
Maybe and maybe not. Let’s take a look and see through history which president contributed more to the national debt. I have thought through the years that Republicans were better at economic issues. Then I thought, it could be that this is something that has been said over and over until we believe it. So maybe it is not true.
Let’s take a look at the data. This is not an area where I have any expertise, so I am using reliable sources.
https://www.investopedia.com/us-debt-by-president-dollar-and-percentage-7371225
Key Takeaways
U.S. national debt stands at over $35 trillion as of August 2024.
A president’s decisions on how to spend government money, such as funding wars or providing government aid, affect the national debt.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt contributed the largest percentage increase to U.S. national debt to date.
Presidents who serve longer terms often contribute more to the national debt than those who serve shorter terms.
There is a table on the website that gives the debt by the U.S. President, the total change in debt, and the percent change. I was unsuccessful in getting the formatting right here, so I request you take a look at the website.
Let’s look at the data. Taking off the top two presidents – funding major world wars and getting our economy in some shape after that are certainly issues that needed to be taken care of. Of course, world events have an impact on what goes on with our economy. Since 1968 with Richard Nixon, how many of the presidents with really BIG additions to our national debt were Democrats and how many were Republicans? Hmm, looks like the Dems do better in this measure.
Then I found this article also on the same website, highly recommended for accurate data, Investopedia:
I have copied some of this because the information is so rich and I thought all of it is important to look at, particularly now with the current fight in Congress over increasing the national debt.
“20th Century Deficits
“The largest budget deficits during the first half of the 20th century were seen during the two world wars. The largest deficits in history relative to the size of the economy occurred during World War II. The United States has run a budget deficit nearly every year since 1961, but the deficits began to balloon during the 1970s and 1980s.3
“President Ronald Reagan vowed to limit the size of government when he took office in 1981 but the nation's deficit roughly doubled and topped $200 billion several times during his eight years in office. George H.W. Bush, Reagan's successor, also presided over a record-breaking deficit of $290 billion in 1992.4
“Achieving a Budget Surplus
“President Bill Clinton agreed to consistently cut the deficit under pressure from Republicans in Congress. He eventually oversaw the first budget surplus in decades.5
“The surplus stood at $236 billion in 2000, Clinton's final year in office. The $128 billion surplus recorded in 2001 was the last time a surplus had been seen in this century.4
“Bush's Budget Deficit
“President George W. Bush cited the Clinton surplus as evidence that taxes were too high when he took office in 2001.6 He pushed through significant tax cuts and oversaw an increase in spending. The combination again drove the U.S. budget into the red.7
“The deficit reached a record $458 billion in 2008, Bush's last year in office. It would triple the following year as the Bush and Obama administrations faced a global financial crisis.4
“Obama's Budget Deficit
“The U.S. budget deficit exploded in fiscal year 2009, ultimately reaching $1.4 trillion under President George W. Bush. The incoming Obama administration struggled to contain the economic fallout from the financial crisis. Most of that deficit was created under Bush's watch, but Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress added hundreds of billions of dollars to it in early 2009.
“The deficit would remain above $1 trillion throughout the 2012 fiscal year, but it was slashed to as low as $440 billion in the later years of Obama's presidency.4
“The biggest U.S. deficits in history relative to the size of the nation's economy were seen during World War II.8
“Trump's Budget Deficit
“President Trump continued the trend of pushing the deficit higher as he sought massive tax cuts and increased defense spending. His first budget for the 2018 fiscal year recorded a deficit of $779 billion.
“The deficit reached $984 billion in 2019 under Trump and it hit more than $1 trillion in 2020 before Congress passed a $2 trillion stimulus package to fight the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.4
“Biden's Budget Deficit
“One of President Biden's campaign promises was to reduce the federal deficit. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the federal budget deficit was $475 billion in the first five months of fiscal year 2022, which represented an amount less than the deficits for the same period in years 2021 and 2020.”
I refer you to the website for further information.
(The numbers inserted or at the end of the previous paragraphs refer to the footnotes in the website article. Please refer to the website for that information)
The bottom-line takeaway from this research is that Republicans are NOT better at handling the economy considering the national debt, and if they say they do, point them to the data. They like to blame Democrats for it, but both must take accountability, and it is necessary for both parties to work together to address this issue.
Finally, I will say this, my research also took me to the source of who is holding our national debt. You can look that up if you are interested.
I don’t hate “that guy.” I don’t want him to be assassinated. I want him to lead a fabulously great life doing something other than being the President of the United States.