US Public Debt--Democrats vs. Republicans Fiscal Years 1978-2010
A September 15, 2010 CBS Poll found that 42% of voters believed that Republicans would be better at deficit reduction, while 34% felt that Democrats would be better at chopping US Public Debt. (See Footnote 1 for link to poll.)
The following charts show exactly how much US Public Debt was created under Democratic and Republican presidents since Fiscal Year 1978.
WARNING: The difference in the amount of debt created may astound you!
All charts are based on information and data from the US Office of Budget and Management website and all numbers are updated to 2010 equivalent dollars. For more on the methodology used--(See Footnote 2).
U.S. Gov't Public Debt 1776-1977
$2,536,574,000,000
Increase under Democrats 1978-2010
Carter
-$143,222,000,000
(Reduction)
Clinton 1
$732,983,000,000
Clinton 2
-$235,330,000,000
(Reduction)
Obama
$1,785,670,000,000
Total
$2,140,101,000,000
Increase under Republicans 1978-2010
Reagan 1
$1,288,196,000,000
Reagan 2
$1,355,357,000,000
Bush Sr.
$1,530,790,000,000
Bush Jr. 1
$1,793,667,000,000
Bush Jr 2
$3,141,928,000,000
Total
$9,109,938,000,000
1776-1977
$2,536,574,000,000
DEMS 1978-2010
$2,140,101,000,000
REPS 1978-2010
$9,109,938,000,000
Total Debt
$13,786,613,000,000
President
End of Fiscal Year
Gross Federal Debt (1)
June CPI (3)
Adj. June CPI (4)
Gross Federal Debt - 2010 Dollars (5)
Yearly Public Debt Increase
US Debt Washington-Ford
1776-1977
706,398
60.7
0.278
2,536,574
Carter
1978
776,602
65.2
0.299
2,596,197
59,623
Carter
1979
829,467
72.3
0.332
2,500,619
-95,578
Carter
1980
909,041
82.7
0.379
2,395,878
-104,741
Carter
1981
994,828
90.6
0.416
2,393,352
-2,526
4 year change--Carter
1978-1981
-143,222
Reagan 1
1982
1,137,315
97.0
0.445
2,555,617
162,265
Reagan 1
1983
1,371,660
99.5
0.456
3,004,763
449,145
Reagan 1
1984
1,564,586
103.7
0.476
3,288,573
283,810
Reagan 1
1985
1,817,423
107.6
0.494
3,681,548
392,976
4 year change--Reagan 1
1982-5
1,288,196
Reagan 2
1986
2,120,501
109.5
0.502
4,220,959
539,411
Reagan 2
1987
2,345,956
113.5
0.521
4,505,166
284,207
Reagan 2
1988
2,601,104
118.0
0.541
4,804,658
299,492
Reagan 2
1989
2,867,800
124.1
0.569
5,036,906
232,248
4 year change--Reagan 2
1986-9
1,355,358
Bush Sr.
1990
3,206,290
129.9
0.596
5,379,977
343,071
Bush Sr.
1991
3,598,178
136.0
0.624
5,766,742
386,765
Bush Sr.
1992
4,001,787
140.2
0.643
6,221,466
454,724
Bush Sr.
1993
4,351,044
144.4
0.662
6,567,696
346,230
4 year change--Bush Sr.
1990-3
1,530,790
Clinton 1
1994
4,643,307
148.0
0.679
6,838,368
270,672
Clinton 1
1995
4,920,586
152.5
0.700
7,032,889
194,521
Clinton 1
1996
5,181,465
156.7
0.719
7,207,262
174,374
Clinton 1
1997
5,369,206
160.3
0.735
7,300,680
93,417
4 year change--Clinton 1
1994-7
732,984
Clinton 2
1998
5,478,189
163.0
0.748
7,325,481
24,801
Clinton 2
1999
5,605,523
166.2
0.763
7,351,431
25,950
Clinton 2
2000
5,628,700
172.4
0.791
7,116,355
-235,076
Clinton 2
2001
5,769,881
178.0
0.817
7,065,349
-51,006
4 year change--Clinton 2
1998-2001
-235,331
Bush Jr. 1
2002
6,198,401
179.9
0.825
7,509,919
444,570
Bush Jr. 1
2003
6,760,014
183.7
0.843
8,020,939
511,020
Bush Jr. 1
2004
7,354,657
189.7
0.870
8,450,489
429,550
Bush Jr. 1
2005
7,905,300
194.5
0.892
8,859,017
408,527
4 year change--Bush Jr. 1
2002-5
1,793,668
Bush Jr. 2
2006
8,451,350
202.9
0.931
9,078,849
219,833
Bush Jr. 2
2007
8,950,744
208.4
0.956
9,363,716
284,867
Bush Jr. 2
2008
9,986,082
218.8
1.004
9,947,290
583,575
Bush Jr. 2
2009
11,875,851
215.7
0.990
12,000,945
2,053,655
4 year change-Bush Jr. 2
2006-9
3,141,929
Obama
2010 (2)
13,786,615
218.0
1.000
13,786,615
1,785,670
1 year change--Obama
2010 [1 year]
1,785,670
(1) Millions of Current Dollars. Federal Debt at the End of Year.
Source: Whitehouse FY 2011 Budget - Table 7.1
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals /
(2) Estimate
(3) Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, 1982-1984 = 100.
ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt
(4) CPI adjusted to make 2010 = 100
(5) Millions of 2010 Dollars--Six numbers = Hundreds of Billions of Dollars
Seven numbers, i.e., $2,053,655 = Trillions, that is $2.053 Trillion Dollars
Eight numbers, i.e., $13,786 = Tens of Trillions, that is $13.786 Trillion Dollars
