Table of Contents
What is the national debt?
The national debt represents the total amount of money that the U.S. federal government owes to its creditors such as U.S. government agencies, Social Security, Medicare systems, Federal Reserve System, etc. The national debt can be calculated as the net accumulation of the US federal government’s annual budget deficits.
Treasury’s Fiscal Service usually borrows the money for federal operations. After that, this organization reports the debt in a US financial statement called the Schedule of Federal Debt.
What is the national debt value in 2021?
In May 2021, the US national debt was 28.19 trillion U.S. dollars. The government’s COVID-19 response is the main reason why debt is so high in 2021.
US National Debt by President
National debt by the president represents debt as a percentage of US economic output calculated from the moment when presidents enter the White House to the debt level when presidents leave.
US National Debt Table
| US National debt by President | Debt Percentage |
|---|---|
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1048% |
| Woodrow Wilson | 727% |
| Ronald Reagan | 186% |
| George W. Bush | 101% |
| Barack Obama | 74% |
| George H.W. Bush | 54% |
| Gerald Ford | 47% |
| Jimmy Carter | 43% |
| Richard Nixon | 34% |
| Donald Trump | 33% |
1. FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT:
He has the highest and biggest percentage expansion to the debt. He contributed $230 billion, and the increasing percentage of this year was 1050%. It was an enhancement of the $22.5 billion levels of debt by the previous President Herbert Hoover. The year was between 1933 to 1945. You may know the fact the highest cost of this period was the cost of World War II. the war was contributed $186.3 billion to the national debt from the year 1942 to 1945.
2. WOODROW WILSON:
He was the second biggest correspondent to the national debt according to the percentage. He contributed $21 billion to the national debt. The time was 1913 to 1921. This was an enhancement of 724% of his previous President.
3. RONALD REAGAN:
He has increased the debt by about 186%. He also enhanced the budget of defense by the rate of 35%.
4. GEORGE BUSH:
President George Bush added 101%of enhancement. For this, he is on this list at the fourth position. You may know the fact that Bush started the terror war in response to the attack of 9/11. For this war of terror in Afghanistan, there was a huge dollar of expenditure. Due to this, he had to deal with the recession of 2001 and the economic crisis and critical period in the year 2008.
5. BARRACK OBAMA:
Under the administration of Barrack Obama, the debt has increased up to 74%. He tried to fight against the Great Recession period. He carries the title for enhancing the national debt. If you see then, you can notice that the level of debt has increased up to $8.34 trillion. This was 70%. He fought against the Great Recession with the boosted and stimulus package of the economy. The biggest enhancement in expenditure comes through social research and scrutiny. The budget enhanced up to $262 billion during that time.
Which President Has Increased the Debt the Most?
Franklin D. Roosevelt increased the national debt the most by 1048% because of the crisis caused by Great Depression (1929-1939). Barack Obama had the highest dollar national debt increase because of the global financial crisis that started in 2008.
This is the whole scenario of the US national debt by each President. Now, you know which President contributed to the national debt. You have already seen all facts and figures. You can also see that Donald Trump contributed $6.7 trillion to the national debt. It was because of the effects of the worldwide pandemic situation for the coronavirus.
