Brigadier General James Monroe Williams

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The list of presidents of the United States by net worth at peak varies greatly. Debt and depreciation often means that presidents' net worth is less than $0 at the time of death.[1] Most presidents before 1845 were extremely wealthy, especially Andrew Jackson and George Washington.

Presidents since 1929, when Herbert Hoover took office, have generally been wealthier than presidents of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; with the exception of Harry S. Truman, all presidents since this time have been millionaires. These presidents have often received income from autobiographies and other writing.[2] Except for Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy (both of whom died while in office), all presidents beginning with Calvin Coolidge have written autobiographies. In addition, many presidents—including Bill Clinton—have earned considerable income from public speaking after leaving office.[3][4]

The richest president in history may be Donald Trump.[5][6] However, his net worth is not precisely known because the Trump Organization is privately held.[5][6]

Truman was among the poorest U.S. presidents, with a net worth considerably less than $1 million. His financial situation contributed to the doubling of the presidential salary to $100,000 in 1949.[7] In addition, the presidential pension was created in 1958 when Truman was again experiencing financial difficulties.[8] Harry and Bess Truman received the first Medicare cards in 1966 via the Social Security Act of 1965.[9]

List of presidents by peak net worth

The figures in the table below are all derived from 24/7 Wall St.'s 2016 valuation of each president's peak net worth. For purposes of 24/7 Wall St.'s valuation, a president's peak net worth may occur after that president has left office.[10] To allow for a direct comparison, all of the figures have been adjusted for inflation to 2022 U.S. dollars.

Name Net worth
(millions of 2022 US$)
Political party[11] Years in office Lifespan
Donald Trump 3,000[nb 1] Republican 2017–2021 born 1946
George Washington 707 None/Independent 1789–1797 1732–1799
Thomas Jefferson 284 Democratic-Republican 1801–1809 1743–1826
Theodore Roosevelt 168 Republican 1901-1909 1858-1919
Andrew Jackson 159 Democratic 1829–1837 1767–1845
James Madison 136 Democratic-Republican 1809–1817 1751–1836
Lyndon B. Johnson 131 Democratic 1963–1969 1908–1973
Herbert Hoover 100 Republican 1929–1933 1874–1964
John F. Kennedy 99 Democratic 1961–1963 1917–1963
Bill Clinton 90 Democratic 1993–2001 born 1946
Franklin D. Roosevelt 79 Democratic 1933–1945 1882–1945
John Tyler 68 Whig / None 1841–1845 1790–1862
Barack Obama 48 Democratic 2009–2017 born 1961
George W. Bush 47 Republican 2001–2009 born 1946
James Monroe 36 Democratic-Republican 1817–1825 1758–1831
Martin Van Buren 34 Democratic 1837–1841 1782–1862
Grover Cleveland 33 Democratic 1885–1889
1893–1897
1837–1908
George H. W. Bush 31 Republican 1989–1993 1924–2018
John Quincy Adams 27 Democratic-Republican 1825–1829 1767–1848
John Adams 25 Federalist 1797–1801 1735–1826
Richard Nixon 20 Republican 1969–1974 1913–1994
Ronald Reagan 16 Republican 1981–1989 1911–2004
James K. Polk 13 Democratic 1845–1849 1795–1849
Dwight D. Eisenhower 10 Republican 1953–1961 1890–1969
Joe Biden 10[18] Democratic 2021–present born 1942
Gerald Ford 9 Republican 1974–1977 1913–2006
Jimmy Carter 9 Democratic 1977–1981 born 1924
Zachary Taylor 8 Whig 1849–1850 1784–1850
William Henry Harrison 7 Whig 1841 1773–1841
Benjamin Harrison 7 Republican 1889–1893 1833–1901
Millard Fillmore 5 Whig 1850–1853 1800–1874
Rutherford B. Hayes 3 Republican 1877–1881 1822–1893
William Howard Taft 3 Republican 1909–1913 1857–1930
Franklin Pierce 2 Democratic 1853–1857 1804–1869
William McKinley 1 Republican 1897–1901 1843–1901
Warren G. Harding 1 Republican 1921–1923 1865–1923
James Buchanan <1 Democratic 1857–1861 1791–1868
Abraham Lincoln <1 Republican / National Union 1861–1865 1809–1865
Andrew Johnson <1 National Union / Democratic 1865–1869 1808–1875
Ulysses S. Grant <1 Republican 1869–1877 1822–1885
James A. Garfield <1 Republican 1881 1831–1881
Chester A. Arthur <1 Republican 1881–1885 1829–1886
Woodrow Wilson <1 Democratic 1913–1921 1856–1924
Calvin Coolidge <1 Republican 1923–1929 1872–1933
Harry S. Truman <1 Democratic 1945–1953 1884–1972

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Trump has claimed to be worth up to $10 billion, but his financial disclosure and campaign statements vary.[12][13] Forbes estimated his net worth at $3.0 billion in 2022.[10][14][15][16][17]

References

  1. ^ Wilson, Gaye. "Monticello Was among the Prizes in a Lottery for a Ruined Jefferson's Relief". www.history.org. Archived from the original on April 9, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  2. ^ "Giving, by Donald Trump". Ontheissues.org. Archived from the original on 2015-10-04. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  3. ^ McIntyre, Mike (5 April 2008). "Clintons Made $109 Million in Last 8 Years". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  4. ^ Tonner, Andrew (Nov 20, 2020). "The 10 Richest U.S. Presidents -- The Motley Fool". The Motley Fool. Archived from the original on March 13, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Rebecca Seales, Eight ways President Donald Trump will make history Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News (January 21, 2017).
  6. ^ a b Leada Gore, Donald Trump's net worth as he takes office as he leaves Archived 2018-01-09 at the Wayback Machine, AL.com (January 19, 2017).
  7. ^ "The 8 poorest US presidents". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  8. ^ Isidore, Chris (2017-01-20). "Here's how much Obama's pension is worth". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on 2019-05-03. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  9. ^ "A brief history of Medicare in America". medicareresources.org. 2019-05-01. Archived from the original on 2019-05-02. Retrieved 2019-05-04.
  10. ^ a b "The Net Worth of the American Presidents: Washington to Trump". 24/7 Wall St. 247wallst.com. November 10, 2016. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  11. ^ "Presidential Purses - TIME". Time.com. Archived from the original on 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  12. ^ "Donald Trump files disclosure of $10 billion in net worth". reuters.com. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  13. ^ "Donald Trump Claims That He's Worth $10 Billion". nbcnews.com. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  14. ^ #72 Donald Trump Real Time Net Worth As of 12/9/15, Forbes
  15. ^ "Donald Trump". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2015-05-05. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  16. ^ "The Definitive Net Worth Of Donald Trump". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2017-03-25. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
  17. ^ "How Much Cash Does Donald Trump Really Have". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2022-03-04. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  18. ^ "How much is President-Elect Biden worth?".