How America Became an Indebted Nation: How Our Presidents Failed the People

The national debt in 2025 is estimated to become $35,000,000,000,000. That’s a lot of zeroes and they will never be erased during my granddaughters’ lifetimes.

Throughout our country’s nearly 249 years, it was not unusual for our presidents to leave office with the nation in debt. However, the numbers were miniscule compared to what has happened in the 21^st century.

In 1981, Ronald Reagan’s policy of “trickle-down economics,” simply defined, this was a fiscal policy which gives money to the super-rich in the form of enormous tax cuts, hoping that they will become “job creators.” When Reagan left office in 1989, America was nearly one-trillion dollars in debt, and the unemployment rate was 5.5 percent and escalating.

 George H.W. Bush succeeded Reagan, served for one term, and added more than three trillion to the national debt using the same, failed fiscal policy.

Bill Clinton’s fiscal policy improved the situation. Over eight years, the national debt rose by just over one trillion dollars.

George W. Bush inherited a booming economy in 2001. He used the same failed Republican fiscal policy of “trickle-down economics.” After he ignored warnings about an imminent attack on our nation and went on vacation. The cowardly and horrific attacks on 9/11 devastated our nation.

Bush launched attack almost immediately to kill or capture the architect of the heinous plan, Osama bin Laden. It failed miserably. However, Bush left thousands of our military in Afghanistan, where they remained for 20 years.

In 2003 he launched an attack on Iraq under false pretenses. America became engaged in two unwinnable and costly wars. In an effort to hide the costs of two wars, the amount of funding two failures was not included in the annual budget.

His refusal to oversee the banking industry allowed them to implement policies which resulted in thousands of foreclosures and the economy in free fall. When he left office, the United States was in debt for nearly 12 trillion dollars.

Barack Obama was a wise president. Knowing he was inheriting an economy engaged in a major recession, he hired the most qualified man and women to rectify the situation and save our country from a second Great Depression.

However, this came at a great cost. Obama saved our banking system, kept our commercial aircraft in the air, and gave huge loans to General Motors and Chrysler.

The cost of repairing another Republican’s damage resulted in our national debt rising to more than 20 trillion dollars.

Then disaster happened. In 2016 Donald Trump won a rigged election which could have been prevented if the leaders of the two major political parties had not hidden the truth about Russian interference from America’s voters.

Not only did Trump give the super-rich huge tax breaks, he used the national treasury as his personal bank. Of course trickle-down economics weakened the economy, but Trump’s personal spending amounted to six million dollars each month he was in office. His use of Air Force One to golf, hold hate rallies, and travel to and from Mar-a-Lago cost taxpayers at least 200,000 dollars for every hour he was aboard the aircraft.

When Trump was evicted from the White House in January of 2021, the national debt had risen by more than eight trillion dollars: nearly 300 million of the nearly 28.5 trillion dollar debt is credited to Trump’s wasteful spending.

Joe Biden succeeded Trump. Our nation’s economy was in an extremely precarious position, moving nearer to a depression. President Biden was forced to increase the national debt by about seven trillion dollars to save thousands of small businesses and even a greater number of jobs.

When the President left office in 2025, our nation’s economy was in its best shape since the day Bill Clinton left office in 2001.

Today, after another rigged election in 2024, Trump is destroying our nation piece by piece. A combination of trickle-down economics and unwise tariffs will greatly harm every working man and woman, as well as our seniors who are retired and rely on Social Security for their survival. If Trump is allowed to continue on his current path, the United States of America will be in another depression by 2027.

Republicans continue to fight against any policy which requires the super-rich to pay their fair share of taxes. The result will be the end of what was once the greatest economy in the world. The working class will be paying for the lifestyles of the rich and privileged.

Op-ed by James Turnage

If you follow my blog, you will be an informed citizen

Source: https://www.self.inc/info/us-debt-by-president/