Presidents and Debt: The Worst of the Worst

James Madison called public debt “a public curse.”

We're currently cursed to the tune of $35.9 trillion and counting. 

To make matters worse, the size of the debt is exacerbating the debt. 

Uncle Sam paid $1.13 trillion in interest expense in fiscal 2023. It was the first time interest expense has ever eclipsed $1 trillion.  In fiscal 2024, the federal government paid more for interest expenses than national defense and Medicare.

It's easy to focus on the current whoever is in office at the moment. After all, the Biden administration ran the third-largest budget deficit in history in fiscal 2024. But the fact of the matter is the debt has continued to climb at a dizzying pace under the oversight of president after president. 

How long has it been since the federal government has taken the borrowing and spending seriously?

The only time in U.S. history that the debt was fully paid off was during President Andrew Jackson’s administration. That was in 1835.

And in modern times, things just keep getting worse and worse. Every president since Calvin Coolidge has left the country in deeper debt than when he took office. 

While many founders, including George Washington, recognized the need for occasional debt, they repeatedly emphasized the importance of repaying it in a timely manner. In his Fifth Annual Message to Congress, Washington put it like this:

“No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt. On none can delay be more injurious or an economy of time more valuable.”

Good luck finding a person in power in Washington, D.C., holding this view today.

In a letter to Abigail Adams, John Adams accurately predicted the impact of debt.

“I lament the introduction of Taxes and Expenses which will accumulate a perpetual Debt and lead to future Revolutions.”

All of the unconstitutional federal acts, regulations, and programs we live under today are a counter-revolution that flipped the entire constitutional system on its head.

Huge government debt also undermines national defense, as John Taylor pointed out.

“Hence it is obvious that debt, so far from being either strength or credit, is a diminution of both; and that freedom from debt is the only genuine source of national strength depending on revenue.”

Washington offered a similar take in his farewell speech, urging the country to “Cherish public credit,” calling it a “very important source of strength and security.”

Washington went on to say that debt should be used “sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace,” pointing out “that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it.”

Borrowing and Spending Is a Bipartisan Sport

Rather than figuring out how to cut spending and debt, today, excessive borrowing and spending is a bipartisan sport. It’s almost as if they’re competing to see who can be the worst.

And no one ever takes the blame.

The national debt has become a political hot potato. Republicans blame Democrats, characterizing them as big spenders. Democrats blame Republicans, also calling them big spenders at times but more often lamenting “tax cuts for the rich.”

So, who were the worst presidents when it came to growing the national debt since 1900?

1. BARACK OBAMA

In raw dollar terms, the biggest borrower-and-spender-in-chief was Barack Obama. The national debt grew by $8.3 trillion during his two terms. 

Obama was the first president to oversee a $1 trillion annual budget shortfall. In fact, his administration ran four trillion-plus deficits in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. 

2. DONALD TRUMP

Donald Trump comes in second on our list. His administration added $8.2 trillion to the national debt. Notably, Trump nearly managed to break Obama’s record in one term versus two. More on that in a moment.

Pandemic spending, coupled with the government shutdown of the economy, exacerbated the budget deficits during his term, but you can’t blame it all on COVID-19. Trump nearly ran a $1 trillion deficit in 2019 and was on pace to eclipse that number in 2020 before COVID gave politicians yet another excuse to expand their unconstitutional spending programs. 

3. JOE BIDEN

In less than one full term, Joe Biden has already reached #3, and by the time his current term ends in Jan 2025, he may rise even closer to the top. 

To date, the national debt has increased by $7.3 trillion since he took office. At the current deficit pace, we can expect at least another $600 billion to be added by the end of his term. This would put him in the same ballpark as Trump and Obama. And, like Trump, he’s reaching these lofty heights in just a single term.

4-5. GEORGE W. BUSH/RONALD REAGAN

George W. Bush comes in fourth. He left office having run up $6.1 trillion in debt. Spending for the War on Terror bloated the Bush budget.

Ronald Reagan’s administration left the U.S. with the fifth-largest increase in debt. When he left office, the U.S. was  $1.9 trillion deeper in debt than when he was elected.

SPENDING/YEAR

It’s interesting to note that the two most recent big spenders both hit the top five in raw dollar terms in just four years, while it took the other three in the top five eight years to match them. If we break it down by an average increase in debt per year, the top five looks like this:

1. Trump 2.05/year
2. Biden 1.95/year (Estimated)
3. Obama 1.04/year
4. Bush 0.76/year
5. Reagan 0.24/year

So, while President Obama set the record in terms of raw dollars, President Trump easily holds the record for the most debt per year, nearly doubling the rate of growth of his big-spending predecessor. 

WHAT ABOUT INFLATION?

Looking at the growth in debt in dollar terms doesn’t account for the impacts of inflation. When we look at the presidents who grew the debt the most in percentage terms, the list looks quite different. 

1. FDR

The biggest debtor in percentage terms was Franklin D. Roosevelt. He expanded the national debt by a staggering 1,047.73 percent. 

He oversaw a massive increase in domestic spending during the Great Depression, including social programs that never went away. He then pivoted to military spending during World War II. This underscores the tremendous cost of war and reveals why James Madison warned that “Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded.”

“War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.”

2. WOODROW WILSON

Another wartime president comes in second on the list. Woodrow Wilson’s administration grew the national debt by 722.21 percent. 

3-5. RONALD REAGAN/G.W. BUSH/BARACK OBAMA

Ronald Reagan (186.36 percent), George W. Bush (105.08 percent), and Barack Obama (69.98 percent) round out the top five.

To date, the Biden administration has increased the debt by about 32 percent. 

CONSEQUENCES

Even Alexander Hamilton, who called the debt “a national blessing” and “powerful cement for the union” and who believed it would “create a necessity for keeping up taxation to a degree which, without being oppressive, will be a spur to industry,” would have a hard time supporting this level of borrowing and spending, given his caveat – “if it is not excessive.”

In a letter to President Washington, Thomas Jefferson drilled down to the reason Hamilton was a fan of debt. 

“I would wish the debt paid tomorrow; he wishes it never to be paid, but always to be a thing wherewith to corrupt and manage the legislature.” [Emphasis added]

In contrast to Hamilton’s sanguine view of debt, Brutus had a more realistic perspective. Warning that under the Constitution, the power to borrow money would be, in practice, “general and unlimited.” From there, he predicted exactly what would happen.

“Under this authority, the Congress may mortgage any or all the revenues of the union, as a fund to loan money upon, and it is probably, in this way, they may borrow of foreign nations, a principal sum, the interest of which will be equal to the annual revenues of the country. — By this means, they may create a national debt, so large, as to exceed the ability of the country ever to sink.”

This, of course, was for Brutus – a doomsday scenario.

“I can scarcely contemplate a greater calamity that could befall this country, than to be loaded with a debt exceeding their ability ever to discharge.”

And here we are.

The Tenth Amendment Center contributed to this report. 

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