Past Presidents, the National Debt, Republicans versus Democrats, and electing a non-senator/governor/rep.

Can't help myself as I woke up at 4:00 a.m. this morning. Who really has added more to the national debt, Republican Presidents or Democratic Presidents? (disclaimer- I am  a strict Republican but the math doesn't change.)Do governors, senators or representatives really make good presidents?

So here is the table - by President, previous experience, $ added to National Debt, % of debt added during term.

While these aren't perfect numbers (there are many ways to look at this), they do show some interesting trends. See for yourself:

Presidents and Debt

President                          Previous Experience $ Added to Debt % Added to Debt

44. Barack Obama (D)  Senator                       $9.4 Trillion 88.2%

43. George W. Bush (R)  Governor  $4.9 trillion 85.5%

42. Bill Clinton (D)  Governor $1.54 trillion 36.7%

41. George H. Bush (R) Representative/VP  $1.49 trillion 55.2% (1 term)

40. Ronald Reagan  (R) Governor                      $1.77 trillion 190%

39. Jimmy Carter (D) Governor                      $281 billion 43% (1 term)

38. Gerald Ford (R) Representative/VP $172 billion 37% (<1 term)

37. Richard Nixon  (R) Senator                         $119 billion 33% (>1 term)

36. Lyndon B Johnson (D) Senator                      $54 billlion 17.5% (>1 term)

35. John F. Kennedy  (D) Senator                         $19 billion 6.6% (<1 term)

pres Start in bils  finish added  perc

obama 10,626         20,000         9,374 88.2

bush 5,730 10.630         4,900 85.5

clinton 4,190 5,730 1,540 36.7

bush 2,700 4,190 1,490 55.2

Reagan 934         2,700 1.77          190

carter 653           934 281          43

Ford 482           654 172          37

Nixon 362           481 119          33

Johnson 308           362 54          17.5

Kennedy 289           308 19            6.6

Average percentage per party:

Democrats in office 28 years - 192% added- 6.85% per year or 27.42% per term

Republicans in office 28 years - 400% added - 14.3% per year or 57.24% per term

So unfortunately for me, the Republican Presidents added more than double the percentage of National Debt per term as the Democratic Presidents.

As you can see we've always elected either a Governor, a Senator or a Representative to the office of the President. how's that working for us? Maybe we should try a business man. Even a flawed rough around the edges business man. #justsayin

Good luck every one this fall.

Rob Barrett, Jr.