Adding to national debt is an inevitable fact of being President of the United States. The extent to which debt rises under any sitting president depends not only on the policy and spending choices they have made, but also the choices made by presidents and congresses that have come before them. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush President Ronald Reagan increased the U.S. debt by around **** trillion U.S. dollars, or ****** percent. This is often attributed to "Reaganomics," in which Reagan implemented significant supply-side economic policies in which he reduced government regulation, cut taxes, and tightened the money supply. Spending increased under President George W. Bush in light of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. To finance the wars, President Bush chose to borrow the money, rather than use war bonds or increase taxes, unlike previous war-time presidents. Additionally, Bush introduced a number of tax cuts, and oversaw the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis. Barack Obama President Obama inherited both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the financial crisis. The Obama administration also did not increase taxes to pay for the wars, and additionally passed expensive legislation to kickstart the economy following the economic crash, as well as the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The ACA expanded healthcare coverage to cover more than ** million more Americans through programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Though controversial at the time, more than half of Americans have a favorable view of the ACA in 2023. Additionally, he signed legislation making the W. Bush-era tax cuts permanent.

As of 2022, former President Bill Clinton was the president who created the most jobs in the United States, at **** million jobs created during his eight year term in office. Former President Ronald Reagan created the second most jobs during his term, at **** million.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the United States contracted 0.50 percent in the first quarter of 2025 over the previous quarter. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States GDP Growth Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Donald Trump data was reported at 46.000 % in 29 Oct 2024. This stayed constant from the previous number of 46.000 % for 22 Oct 2024. United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Donald Trump data is updated weekly, averaging 43.000 % from May 2023 (Median) to 29 Oct 2024, with 61 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 46.000 % in 29 Oct 2024 and a record low of 38.000 % in 31 Oct 2023. United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Donald Trump data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by YouGov PLC. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.PR004: The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election (Discontinued). If an election for president were going to be held now and the Democratic nominee was Joe Biden and the Republican nominee was Donald Trump, would you vote for...

An executive order is one of the most commonly used form of administrative action taken by the President of the United States. It is where an order or directive regarding the management of the U.S. government is signed into law by the president. Executive orders are generally used by presidents to influence U.S. laws and the administration of the country, without the need for a vote in Congress or the Supreme Court; although these orders are subject to judicial review, and can be challenged by the courts or another branch of government. If deemed unlawful or unconstitutional, the order will be revoked or cancelled, and a president may also revoke, cancel or amend any executive order that they, or any other presidents, have made. The U.S.' first 25 presidents signed a combined total of 1,262 executive orders in roughly 112 years, averaging at around 12 per year, however there was a large increase in the number of orders issued in the first half of the twentieth century. Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th U.S. president, was the first to issue more than one thousand executive orders alone; while Woodrow Wilson, who was in office during the First World War, signed more than 1,800. Franklin D. Roosevelt The president who signed the most executive orders was Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), who, during his twelve years in office, signed more than a quarter of all executive orders ever published. While FDR did serve over four years more than any other president, he still issued the highest number of average annual executive orders, with over three hundred per year. FDR was in office throughout most of the Second World War, although the majority of these orders came in his earlier years in office (more than a thousand orders were signed in 1933 and 1934), as he used his New Deal policies to lead the U.S. through its economic recovery from the Great Depression. Roosevelt's most controversial order, however, did relate to the Second World War; this was Order 9066, which saw approximately 120,000 people of Japanese descent, and almost 15,000 ethnic Germans and Italians, interned in concentration camps for almost three years.

Notable orders Arguably, the most famous and well known executive order was Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation** in 1862, which changed the legal status of all enslaved people in the Confederate states during the Civil War, and declared them free in the eyes of the Union. A number of other orders also marked notable milestones in African-American civil rights; including the desegregation of the U.S. military by President Truman in 1948, and the desegregation of public schools by President Eisenhower in 1957. While the number of orders issued by presidents has decreased since the Eisenhower administration, recent presidents have generally issued between 100 and 200 orders during each term. Examples of more controversial orders from recent years include George W. Bush's Order 13233, which tightened restrictions on the accessibility of former U.S. presidents' records, and Donald Trump's Order 13769, which placed travel bans on citizens from a number of Muslim-majority countries; Bush's Order was eventually revoked by Barack Obama the day after his inauguration, while Trump's travel ban was one of several executive orders repealed by Joe Biden on his first day in office.

This data package includes the underlying data to replicate the charts, tables, and calculations presented in The US Revenue Implications of President Trump’s 2025 Tariffs, PIIE Briefing 25-2.

If you use the data, please cite as:

McKibbin, Warwick, and Geoffrey Shuetrim. 2025. The US Revenue Implications of President Trump’s 2025 Tariffs. PIIE Briefing 25-2. Washington: Peterson Institute for International Economics.

This data package includes the underlying data to replicate the charts and calculations presented in The International Economic Implications of a Second Trump Presidency, PIIE Working Paper 24-20.

If you use the data, please cite as:

McKibbin, Warwick, Megan Hogan, and Marcus Noland. 2024. The International Economic Implications of a Second Trump Presidency. PIIE Working Paper 24-20. Washington: Peterson Institute for International Economics.

As of the third quarter of 2024, the GDP of the U.S. grew by 2.8 percent from the second quarter of 2024. GDP, or gross domestic product, is effectively a count of the total goods and services produced in a country over a certain period of time. It is calculated by first adding together a country’s total consumer spending, government spending, investments and exports; and then deducting the country’s imports. The values in this statistic are the change in ‘constant price’ or ‘real’ GDP, which means this basic calculation is also adjusted to factor in the regular price changes measured by the U.S. inflation rate. Because of this adjustment, U.S. real annual GDP will differ from the U.S. 'nominal' annual GDP for all years except the baseline from which inflation is calculated. What is annualized GDP? The important thing to note about the growth rates in this statistic is that the values are annualized, meaning the U.S. economy has not actually contracted or grown by the percentage shown. For example, the fall of 29.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020 did not mean GDP is suddenly one third less than a year before. In fact, it means that if the decline seen during that quarter continued at the same rate for a full year, then GDP would decline by this amount. Annualized values can therefore exaggerate the effect of short-term economic shocks, as they only look at economic output during a limited period. This effect can be seen by comparing annualized quarterly growth rates with the annual GDP growth rates for each calendar year.

In 2023 the real gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States increased by 2.5 percent compared to 2022. This rate of annual growth indicates a return to economy normalcy after 2020 saw a dramatic decline in the GDP growth rate due to the the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and high growth in 2021.

What does GDP growth mean?

Essentially, the annual GDP of the U.S. is the monetary value of all goods and services produced within the country over a given year. On the surface, an increase in GDP therefore means that more goods and services have been produced between one period than another. In the case of annualized GDP, it is compared to the previous year. In 2023, for example, the U.S. GDP grew 2.5 percent compared to 2022.

Countries with highest GDP growth rate

Although the United States has by far the largest GDP of any country, it does not have the highest GDP growth, nor the highest GDP at purchasing power parity. In 2021, Libya had the highest growth in GDP, growing more than 177 percent compared to 2020. Furthermore, Luxembourg had the highest GDP per capita at purchasing power parity, a better measure of living standards than nominal or real GDP.

United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Other data was reported at 2.000 % in 29 Oct 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.000 % for 22 Oct 2024. United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Other data is updated weekly, averaging 2.000 % from May 2023 (Median) to 29 Oct 2024, with 61 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8.000 % in 19 Dec 2023 and a record low of 0.000 % in 16 Apr 2024. United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Other data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by YouGov PLC. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.PR004: The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election (Discontinued). If an election for president were going to be held now and the Democratic nominee was Joe Biden and the Republican nominee was Donald Trump, would you vote for...

The United States recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 124.30 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2024. This dataset provides - United States Government Debt To GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Not Sure data was reported at 3.000 % in 29 Oct 2024. This stayed constant from the previous number of 3.000 % for 22 Oct 2024. United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Not Sure data is updated weekly, averaging 5.000 % from May 2023 (Median) to 29 Oct 2024, with 61 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 10.000 % in 28 May 2024 and a record low of 3.000 % in 29 Oct 2024. United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Not Sure data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by YouGov PLC. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.PR004: The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election (Discontinued). If an election for president were going to be held now and the Democratic nominee was Joe Biden and the Republican nominee was Donald Trump, would you vote for...

In the 2021 C-SPAN Survey of Presidential Leadership, Abraham Lincoln was chosen as the country's top ranked president for the fourth time in a row. This is the fourth survey of its kind; the first was conducted in 2000, during Bill Clinton's final year in office, while the subsequent three surveys were held in the years after each respective president left office. Compared to the previous survey, the top nine presidents have remained in the same positions, while Barack Obama moved up from 12th place in 2017 to round out the top 10 in 2021. The bottom three presidents also remained unchanged from previous surveys, and were Abraham Lincoln's two predecessors and successor, ranked so low due to their perceived failures before and after the American Civil War.

Criteria A total of 142 experts took part in this survey, and were asked to rank each president on a scale of one (not effective) to ten (very effective) across ten different qualities. Scores in each area were then converted to an average value out of 100, and combined to give a total score out of 1,000. Generally, there was a strong correlation across the board in each area, for example, Lincoln ranked among the top four in each individual area, while Buchanan was in the bottom three of each. Despite this, there was some deviation; Lyndon Johnson was ranked second in the category Pursued Equal Justice For All, but 39th in International Relations. There has also been deviation over time, such as Woodrow Wilson falling from sixth place overall in 2000, to 13th place in 2021, or Ulysses S. Grant moving up from 33rd to 20th over the same period, as perceptions of past presidents' performances are revised over time.

Donald Trump The most recent president, Donald Trump, made his first appearance at number 41 on the list, out of a total of 44 entries (Grover Cleveland is generally viewed as the 22nd and 24th president, but has been included once here). In the individual criteria, Trump was ranked last in both Moral Authority and Administrative Skills, whereas Public Persuasion was the only area where he did not feature in the bottom quartile. The next survey will likely take place in either 2025 or 2029, at the end of Joe Biden's time in office, while we may be seeing Trump re-evaluated in the 2029 survey if he does run for office again and takes victory in the 2024 election.

Money Supply M2 in the United States increased to 21942 USD Billion in May from 21862.40 USD Billion in April of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Money Supply M2 - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Surplus or Deficit [-] as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (FYFSGDA188S) from 1929 to 2024 about budget, federal, GDP, and USA.

United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Cornel West data was reported at 0.000 % in 29 Oct 2024. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.000 % for 22 Oct 2024. United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Cornel West data is updated weekly, averaging 1.000 % from Mar 2024 (Median) to 29 Oct 2024, with 33 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.000 % in 15 Oct 2024 and a record low of 0.000 % in 29 Oct 2024. United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Cornel West data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by YouGov PLC. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.PR004: The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election (Discontinued). If an election for president were going to be held now and the Democratic nominee was Joe Biden and the Republican nominee was Donald Trump, would you vote for...

Over the course of their first terms in office, no U.S. president in the past 100 years saw as much of a decline in stock prices as Herbert Hoover, and none saw as much of an increase as Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) - these were the two presidents in office during the Great Depression. While Hoover is not generally considered to have caused the Wall Street Crash in 1929, less than a year into his term in office, he is viewed as having contributed to its fall, and exacerbating the economic collapse that followed. In contrast, Roosevelt is viewed as overseeing the economic recovery and restoring faith in the stock market played an important role in this.

By the end of Hoover's time in office, stock prices were 82 percent lower than when he entered the White House, whereas prices had risen by 237 percent by the end of Roosevelt's first term. While this is the largest price gain of any president within just one term, it is important to note that stock prices were valued at 317 on the Dow Jones index when Hoover took office, but just 51 when FDR took office four years later - stock prices had peaked in August 1929 at 380 on the Dow Jones index, but the highest they ever reached under FDR was 187, and it was not until late 1954 that they reached pre-Crash levels once more.

As of January 2025, about 41 percent of Americans approved of the way Joe Biden was handling his job as president. This is a slight increase from the previous month, when the President's approval rating sat at 40.3. Congressional Approval In March 2021, congressional approval reached a 12-year-high, with a 36 percent approval rating. However, congressional approval decreased in the following months. Approval ratings for Congress tend to be quite low, as many Americans have low trust in politicians and institutions in the country. The high approval rating in March 2021 came after Congress passed a COVID-19 relief bill to provide financial assistance to Americans during the pandemic. Handling of the pandemic Biden’s higher approval rating early in his presidency can, in-part, be attributed to how he tackled COVID-19. Taking a more hands-on approach in comparison to his predecessor, Biden supported mandated mask-wearing and expedited vaccines nationwide. About 40 percent of Americans either somewhat or strongly approved of the way the President was handling the virus, while about 45 percent either somewhat disapproved or strongly disapproved of his actions. As the two major parties disagreed on how to tackle the pandemic, existing divisions were further entrenched. A majority of the strong support came from Democrats, while most of the disapproval came from Republicans. Despite the low rating, the president's party performed relatively well at the 2022 midterm elections. While the economic situation in the United States was a large part of pre-election discourse, voters were more motivated by abortion rights and democracy.

United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Joe Biden data was reported at 41.000 % in 16 Jul 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 40.000 % for 09 Jul 2024. United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Joe Biden data is updated weekly, averaging 42.000 % from May 2023 (Median) to 16 Jul 2024, with 46 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 44.000 % in 16 Apr 2024 and a record low of 38.000 % in 17 Oct 2023. United States The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election: Joe Biden data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by YouGov PLC. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.PR004: The Economist YouGov Polls: 2024 Presidential Election (Discontinued). If an election for president were going to be held now and the Democratic nominee was Joe Biden and the Republican nominee was Donald Trump, would you vote for...

Labor Force Participation Rate in the United States decreased to 62.30 percent in June from 62.40 percent in May of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Labor Force Participation Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.