Fawn: Barry Hussein was awesome because he barely missed running up as much debt as all other Presidents COMBINED!
LOL
Rightwingnuts are such losers.
Reagan was the last president who actually did add more debt than all other previous presidents combined, increasing the debt 187%
Carter ............ 43% (in 4 years)
Reagan ....... 187%
Bush41 .......... 61% (in 4 years)
Clinton .......... 37%
Obama ......... 88%
Trump ........... 33% (in 3½ years)
G'head... this is where you pivot to Congress.
What did he add? $2 Trillion?
And that was because Tip O'Neil lied to Reagan about giving him spending cuts if Reagan agreed to tax hikes. You really should learn history before making a fool of yourself, Halfwit.
$2 trillion? Impeached Trump??
LOLOLOL
He's adding almost $5 trillion this fiscal year alone.
Reagan you blithering idiot, the guy you brought up. Didn't the Tip O'Neil comment clue you in? Apparently you are too thick to follow a conversation.
LOLOL
Typical rightard ... blame a Democrat for the shortcomings of a Republican.
Your ignorance of history is only rivaled by your inability to follow a conversation.
You are a raving lunatic with an IQ smaller than your shoe size.
Dismissed.
LOL
Poor, baby.
Despite you burying your head in the sand, Reagan is still the last president to add more debt than every other president before him combined...
Ronald Reagan .................................................... 1,859,575,960,187
All other previous presidents combined ...... 997,855,000,000
Reagan added about 1/5 of what Barry Hussein added.
Wrong. You rightards lie as easily as you breath. In your case, it looks like just rank ignorance.
The Top Five Contributors by Percentage
Franklin D. Roosevelt: President Roosevelt had the largest percentage increase. Although he only added $236 billion, this was a 1,048% increase from the $23 billion debt level left by
President Herbert Hoover. The
Great Depression took an enormous bite out of revenues. The
New Deal cost billions. But the biggest cost was
World War II. It added $209 billion to the debt between 1942 and 1945.4
Woodrow Wilson: President Wilson was the second-largest contributor to the debt, percentage-wise. He added $21 billion, which was a 727% increase over the $2.9 billion debt of his predecessor. Wilson had to pay for
World War I. During his presidency, the Second Liberty Bond Act gave Congress the right to adopt the
national debt ceiling.4
Ronald Reagan: President Reagan increased the debt by 186%.
Reaganomics added $1.86 trillion. Reagan's brand of
supply-side economics didn't grow the economy enough to offset the lost revenue from its tax cuts. Reagan also increased the defense budget by 35%.4
George W. Bush: President Bush added $5.849 trillion, the second-greatest dollar amount. This was a 101% increase, the fourth-largest percentage increase. Bush launched the
War on Terror in response to the
9/11 attacks. It includes the
War in Afghanistan, at $1.1 trillion, and the
Iraq War, at $1 trillion.
Military spending rose to a record level of $800 billion a year.4
Bush fought two recessions.
- 2001 recession: Initiated the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act.
- 2008 financial crisis: Approved a $700 billion bailout package for banks.
Both
Presidents Bush and Obama also had to contend with higher
mandatory spending for
Social Security and Medicare.
Barack Obama: Under
President Obama, the national debt grew the most dollar-wise. He added $8.588 trillion. This 74% increase was the fifth-largest.4 Obama fought the
Great Recession with an $831 billion
economic stimulus package.5 The
Obama tax cuts added $858 billion.
Obama increased
defense spending to $855 billion.6 He sponsored the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It was designed to reduce the debt by $143 billion over 10 years. But these savings didn't show up until the later years.7
U.S. Debt Increase by Fiscal Year Since 1914
The U.S. Treasury Department has historical tables that report the annual U.S. debt for each fiscal year since 1790.4 This data has been compiled for each president as detailed below.
Donald Trump: In his FY 2021 budget, Trump planned to add $4.832 trillion to the debt in his first term.8 That's a 24% increase from the $20.245 trillion debt at the end of Obama's last budget for FY 2017.
The
COVID-19 pandemic added an additional $2 trillion to the debt in the first quarter of 2020. That's from the
CARES Act and a reduction in tax revenues as
GDP plummeted 5%.
If Trump remains in office for a second term, he planned to add $8.3 trillion for both terms.
Trump had promised to eliminate the debt during his campaign.
- FY 2021 - $1.177 trillion projected in budget
- FY 2020 - $1.181 trillion projected in budget
- FY 2019 - $1.203 trillion
- FY 2018 - $1.271 trillion
Barack Obama: Added $8.588 trillion, a 74% increase from the $11.657 trillion debt at the end of Bush’s last budget, FY 2009.
- FY 2017 - $671 billion
- FY 2016 - $1.423 trillion
- FY 2015 - $327 billion
- FY 2014 - $1.086 trillion
- FY 2013 - $672 billion
- FY 2012 - $1.276 trillion
- FY 2011 - $1.229 trillion
- FY 2010 - $1.652 trillion
- FY 2009 - $253 billion. Congress passed the Economic Stimulus Act, which spent $253 billion in FY 2009.9 This rare occurrence should be added to President Obama's contribution to the debt.
George W. Bush: Added $5.849 trillion, a 101% increase from the $5.8 trillion debt at the end of Clinton's last budget, FY 2001.
- FY 2009 - $1.632 trillion. This was Bush's deficit without the impact of the Economic Stimulus Act.
- FY 2008 - $1.017 trillion
- FY 2007 - $501 billion
- FY 2006 - $574 billion
- FY 2005 - $554 billion
- FY 2004 - $596 billion
- FY 2003 - $555 billion
- FY 2002 - $421 billion
Bill Clinton: Added $1.396 trillion, a 32% increase from the $4.4 trillion debt at the end of George H.W. Bush's last budget, FY 1993.
- FY 2001 - $133 billion
- FY 2000 - $18 billion
- FY 1999 - $130 billion
- FY 1998 - $113 billion
- FY 1997 - $188 billion
- FY 1996 - $251 billion
- FY 1995 - $281 billion
- FY 1994 - $281 billion
George H.W. Bush: Added $1.554 trillion, a 54% increase from the $2.857 trillion debt at the end of Reagan's last budget, FY 1989.
- FY 1993 - $347 billion
- FY 1992 - $399 billion
- FY 1991 - $432 billion
- FY 1990 - $376 billion
Ronald Reagan: Added $1.86 trillion, a 186% increase from the $998 billion debt at the end of Carter's last budget, FY 1981.
- FY 1989 - $255 billion
- FY 1988 - $252 billion
- FY 1987 - $225 billion
- FY 1986 - $297 billion
- FY 1985 - $256 billion
- FY 1984 - $195 billion
- FY 1983 - $235 billion
- FY 1982 - $144 billion
Jimmy Carter: Added $299 billion, a 43% increase from the $699 billion debt at the end of Ford's last budget, FY 1977.
- FY 1981 - $90 billion
- FY 1980 - $81 billion
- FY 1979 - $55 billion
- FY 1978 - $73 billion
Gerald Ford: Added $224 billion, a 47% increase from the $475 billion debt at the end of Nixon's last budget, FY 1974.
- FY 1977 - $78 billion
- FY 1976 - $87 billion
- FY 1975 - $58 billion
Richard Nixon: Added $121 billion, a 34% increase from the $354 billion debt at the end of President Johnson's last budget, FY 1969.
- FY 1974 - $17 billion
- FY 1973 - $31 billion
- FY 1972 - $29 billion
- FY 1971 - $27 billion
- FY 1970 - $17 billion
Lyndon B. Johnson: Added $42 billion, a 13% increase from the $312 billion debt at the end of President Kennedy's last budget, FY 1964.
- FY 1969 - $6 billion
- FY 1968 - $21 billion
- FY 1967 - $6 billion
- FY 1966 - $3 billion
- FY 1965 - $6 billion
John F. Kennedy: Added $23 billion, an 8% increase from the $289 billion debt at the end of Eisenhower's last budget, FY 1961.
- FY 1964 - $6 billion
- FY 1963 - $7 billion
- FY 1962 - $10 billion
Dwight Eisenhower: Added $23 billion, a 9% increase from the $266 billion debt at the end of Truman's last budget, FY 1953.
- FY 1961 - $3 billion
- FY 1960 - $2 billion
- FY 1959 - $8 billion
- FY 1958 - $6 billion
- FY 1957 - $2 billion surplus
- FY 1956 - $2 billion surplus
- FY 1955 - $3 billion
- FY 1954 - $5 billion
Harry Truman: Added $7 billion, a 3% increase from the $259 billion debt at the end of President Roosevelt’s last budget, FY 1945.
- FY 1953 - $7 billion
- FY 1952 - $4 billion
- FY 1951 - $2 billion surplus
- FY 1950 - $5 billion
- FY 1949 - $0 billion with a slight surplus
- FY 1948 - $6 billion surplus
- FY 1947 - $11 billion surplus
- FY 1946 - $11 billion
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Added $236 billion, a 1,048% increase from the $23 billion debt at the end of Hoover's last budget, FY 1933.
- FY 1945 - $58 billion
- FY 1944 - $64 billion
- FY 1943 - $64 billion
- FY 1942 - $23 billion
- FY 1941 - $6 billion
- FY 1940 - $3 billion
- FY 1939 - $3 billion
- FY 1938 - $1 billion
- FY 1937 - $3 billion
- FY 1936 - $5 billion
- FY 1935 - $2 billion
- FY 1934 - $5 billion
Herbert Hoover: Added $6 billion, a 33% increase from the $17 billion debt at the end of Coolidge's last budget, FY 1929.
- FY 1933 - $3 billion
- FY 1932 - $3 billion
- FY 1931 - $1 billion
- FY 1930 - $1 billion surplus
Calvin Coolidge: Subtracted $5 billion from the debt, a 24% decrease from the $22 billion debt at the end of Harding's last budget, FY 1923.
- FY 1929 - $1 billion surplus
- FY 1928 - $1 billion surplus
- FY 1927 - $1 billion surplus
- FY 1926 - $1 billion surplus
- FY 1925 - $1 billion surplus
- FY 1924 - $1 billion surplus
Warren G. Harding: Subtracted $2 billion from the debt, a 7% decrease from the $24 billion debt at the end of Wilson's last budget, FY 1921.
- FY 1923 - $1 billion surplus
- FY 1922 - $1 billion surplus
Woodrow Wilson: Added $21 billion to the debt, a 727% increase from the $2.9 billion debt at the end of Taft's last budget, FY 1913.
- FY 1921 - $2 billion surplus
- FY 1920 - $1 billion surplus
- FY 1919 - $13 billion
- FY 1918 - $9 billion
- FY 1917 - $2 billion
- FY 1916 - $1 billion
- FY 1915 - $0 billion with a slight surplus
- FY 1914 - $0 billion
FY 1789 - FY 1913: $2.9 billion debt created.
Resources: Debt from 1914 to 2019: Historical Debt Outstanding.4 Debt from 2020 to 2021: FY 2021 budget."8
ARTICLE TABLE OF CONTENTSSkip to section
Check out how the national debt has increased by year and president. Depending on how you measure it, the answers may differ.
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