Drawback of Measuring Debt by President

Neither of the techniques mentioned above is a very accurate way to measure each president’s impact on the national debt because the president doesn’t have much control over the national debt during their first year in office. For example, President Donald Trump took office in January 2017. He submitted his first budget in May. It covered the 2018 fiscal year, which didn’t begin until October 1, 2017. Trump operated the first part of his term under President Barack Obama’s budget for fiscal year 2017, which ended on Sept. 30, 2017. While the time lag may make it seem confusing, Congress intentionally sets it up this way. An advantage of the federal fiscal year is that it gives the new president time to put together their budget during their first months in office.

The Best Way to Measure Debt by President

The best way to measure a president’s debt is to add up their budget deficits and compare that total to the debt level when they took office. A president’s budget reveals their administration’s priorities.

Top 5 Presidents Who Contributed to the Debt by Percentage

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)

President Roosevelt added the largest percentage increase to the national debt. Although he only added $236 billion, this was an increase of about 1,048% from the $22.5 billion debt level left by President Herbert Hoover before him. The Great Depression and the New Deal contributed to FDR’s yearly deficits, but the biggest cost was World War II—it added $186.3 billion to the debt between 1942 and 1945.

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

President Wilson was the second-largest contributor to the debt, percentage-wise. He added about $21 billion, which was a 723% increase over the $2.9 billion debt of his predecessor. World War I contributed to the deficits that raised the national debt.

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

President Reagan increased the debt by $1.86 trillion, or by 186%. Reagan’s 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%.

George W. Bush (2001-2009)

President Bush added $5.85 trillion to the national debt. That’s a 101% increase, putting him in fourth. Bush launched the War on Terror in response to the 9/11 attacks, which led to multi-trillion-dollar spending on the War in Afghanistan and the War in Iraq. Bush also dealt with the 2001 recession and the 2008 financial crisis.

Barack Obama (2009-2017)

Under President Obama, the national debt grew the most in dollar terms ($8.6 trillion) and was fifth by percentage at 74%. Obama fought the Great Recession with an $831 billion economic stimulus package and added $858 billion through tax cuts. Even though the fiscal year 2009 budget was set by President Bush, Obama added to it with the Economic Stimulus Act in 2009.

US Debt Increase by President Per Fiscal Year

The U.S. Treasury Department has historical tables that report the annual U.S. debt for each fiscal year (FY) since 1790. We’ve compiled this data from that source to create the figures used below.

Joe Biden

In January 2023, the nation hit the $31.4 trillion debt limit Congress passed in 2021. Republican lawmakers control the House of Representatives and said they won’t raise the debt limit unless Democrats, who control the Senate, agree to budget cuts. On Oct. 1, 2021, at the end of fiscal year 2021, the national debt was $28.4 trillion. Between the end of fiscal year 2020 and the end of fiscal year 2021, the national debt grew $1.5 trillion, a 5.6% increase year over year. For fiscal year 2022, President Joe Biden’s budget included a deficit of $1.84 trillion, and by August 2022, the national debt had grown to $30.8 trillion. When Biden took office, the economy and household finances were still reeling from the pandemic, and Biden continued his predecessor’s policy of spending heavily to keep households afloat. In March 2021, Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, which showered taxpayers with pandemic relief cash in the form of stimulus checks and extra unemployment payments, and temporarily expanded child tax credits, plus other help. It all came with a cost to future budgets: The bill would add $1.9 trillion to the national debt by 2031, the Congressional Budget Office estimated. The bipartisan infrastructure bill, signed by Biden in November 2021, which provided new funding for highways, railways, broadband Internet expansion and other projects, added to the debt too, with estimates on its 10-year impact ranging from $374 billion to $400 billion, depending on how it’s calculated.  Some of Biden’s actions cut the other way. In August 2022, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, an anti-climate change bill that spent money on new green energy programs and tax credits as well as to make drugs cheaper for patients, and paid for it by raising taxes on corporations and the ultra-wealthy. The bill should reduce the national debt by $102 billion by 2031, the CBO estimated. Biden followed up this bill with an executive action that forgave up to $10,000 of federal student loan debt per borrower, and $20,000 for those who received Pell Grants. He also proposed a new, cheaper income-driven student loan repayment program for future borrowers. However, he also announced that student loan interest and required payments, both of which had been frozen since the pandemic hit, would resume in January 2023.In August 2022, the government did not have an official estimate for how these measures would impact the national debt. One piece of it—forgiving $10,000 of debt per student loan borrower—would cost $329.7 billion over 10 years, according to an estimate by the Wharton School of Business.

Donald Trump

At the end of fiscal year 2020, the debt was $26.9 trillion. Trump added $6.7 trillion to the debt between fiscal year 2017 and fiscal year 2020, a 33.1% increase, largely due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and 2020 recession. In his FY 2021 budget, Trump’s budget included a $966 billion deficit. However, the national debt actually grew by $1.5 trillion between October 1, 2020, and October 1, 2021.

FY 2021: $1.5 trillionFY 2020: $4.2 trillionFY 2019: $1.2 trillionFY 2018: $1.3 trillion

Barack Obama

President Obama added about $8.6 trillion, about a 74% increase, to the national debt at the end of President Bush’s last budget in 2009.

FY 2017: $671 billionFY 2016: $1.42 trillionFY 2015: $326 billionFY 2014: $1.09 trillion FY 2013: $672 billionFY 2012: $1.28 trillionFY 2011: $1.23 trillionFY 2010: $1.65 trillionFY 2009: $253 billion (Congress passed the Economic Stimulus Act, which spent $253 billion)

George W. Bush

President Bush added $5.85 trillion to the national debt, a 101% increase from the $5.8 trillion debt at the end of Clinton’s last budget for fiscal year 2001.

FY 2009: $1.63 trillion (this was Bush’s deficit without the impact of the Economic Stimulus Act)FY 2008: $1.02 trillionFY 2007: $501 billionFY 2006: $574 billionFY 2005: $553 billionFY 2004: $596 billionFY 2003: $555 billionFY 2002: $421 billion

Bill Clinton

President Clinton increased the national debt by almost $1.4 trillion, almost a 32% increase from the $4.4 trillion debt at the end of President H.W. Bush’s last budget.

FY 2001: $133 billionFY 2000: $18 billionFY 1999: $130 billionFY 1998: $113 billionFY 1997: $189 billionFY 1996: $251 billionFY 1995: $281 billionFY 1994: $281 billion

George H.W. Bush

President H.W. Bush added $1.55 trillion to the debt, a 54% increase from the $2.857 trillion debt at the end of Reagan’s last budget.

FY 1993: $347 billionFY 1992: $399 billionFY 1991: $432 billionFY 1990: $376 billion

Ronald Reagan

President Regan added $1.86 trillion to the national debt, a 186% increase from the $997.8 billion debt at the end of Carter’s last budget.

FY 1989: $255 billionFY 1988: $252 billionFY 1987: $225 billionFY 1986: $302 billionFY 1985: $251 billionFY 1984: $195 billionFY 1983: $235 billionFY 1982: $145 billion

Jimmy Carter

President Carter added $299 billion to the debt, a 42.7% increase from the $698.8 billion debt at the end of Ford’s last budget.

FY 1981: $90.1 billionFY 1980: $81.1 billionFY 1979: $54.9 billionFY 1978: $72.7 billion

Gerald Ford

President Ford added $223.7 billion to the debt.

FY 1977: $78.4 billionFY 1976: $87.2 billionFY 1975: $58.1 billion

Richard Nixon

President Nixon added $121.1 billion to the national debt, a 34% increase from the $353.7 billion debt at the end of President Johnson’s last budget.

FY 1974: $16.9 billionFY 1973: $30.8 billionFY 1972: $29.1 billionFY 1971: $27.2 billionFY 1970: $17.1 billion

Lyndon B. Johnson

President Johnson added $41.8 billion to the national debt, just a small 13% increase from the $312 billion debt at the end of President Kennedy’s time in office in 1964.

FY 1969: $6.1 billionFY 1968: $21.3 billionFY 1967: $6.3 billionFY 1966: $2.6 billionFY 1965: $5.5 billion

John F. Kennedy

President Kennedy added $22.6 billion to the national debt.

FY 1964: $5.8 billionFY 1963: $7.6 billionFY 1962: $9.2 billion

Dwight Eisenhower

President Eisenhower added $22.8 billion to the national debt.

FY 1961: $2.6 billionFY 1960: $1.6 billionFY 1959: $8.3 billionFY 1958: $5.8 billionFY 1957: $2.2 billion surplusFY 1956: $1.6 billion surplusFY 1955: $3.1 billionFY 1954: $5.1 billion

Harry Truman

President Truman added $7.3 billion to the national debt.

FY 1953: $6.9 billionFY 1952: $3.8 billionFY 1951: $2.1 billion surplusFY 1950: $4.5 billionFY 1949: $478 million surplusFY 1948: $6 billion surplusFY 1947: $11 billion surplusFY 1946: $10.7 billion

Franklin D. Roosevelt

President Roosevelt increased the national debt by $236 billion, a 1,048% increase from the $22.5 billion debt at the end of Hoover’s last budget.

FY 1945: $57.7 billionFY 1944: $64.3 billionFY 1943: $64.2 billionFY 1942: $23.5 billionFY 1941: $6 billionFY 1940: $2.5 billionFY 1939: $3.2 billionFY 1938: $740 millionFY 1937: $2.6 billionFY 1936: $5 billionFY 1935: $1.6 billionFY 1934: $4.5 billion

Herbert Hoover

President Hoover added about $5.7 billion to the national debt.

FY 1933: $3 billionFY 1932: $2.8 billionFY 1931: $616 millionFY 1930: $746 million surplus

Calvin Coolidge

President Coolidge reduced the national debt by about $5.3 billion. 

FY 1929: $673 million surplusFY 1928: $907 million surplusFY 1927: $1.1 billion surplusFY 1926: $873 million surplusFY 1925: $734.6 million surplusFY 1924: $1 billion surplus

Warren G. Harding

President Harding reduced the national debt by about $1.6 billion thanks to budget surpluses.

FY 1923: $614 million surplusFY 1922: $1 billion surplus

Woodrow Wilson

President Wilson added about $21 billion to the national debt, a 723% increase from the $2.9 billion debt at the end of Taft’s last budget for fiscal year 1913.

FY 1921: $1.9 billion surplusFY 1920: $1.4 billion surplusFY 1919: $12.8 billionFY 1918: $9.8 billionFY 1917: $2.1 billionFY 1916: $551 millionFY 1915: $146 millionFY 1914: $0 (slight surplus)