The U.S. national debt surpassed $31 trillion this week and will balloon further as federal government spending continues to accelerate along with interest paid on the balance.
American leaders have been on a spending binge for decades under both Democratic and Republican administrations, and not since Republican President Calvin Coolidge, who departed the White House in 1929, has an American president reduced the national debt over their tenure in office, according to an analysis by Sound Dollar.
Both the executive and legislative branches have a say in spending: The president submits a proposed budget each year to Congress, which ultimately holds the power of the purse.
With that in mind, Sound Dollar adjusted the figures to account for the fact that in a president’s first year in office, they operate on a budget they inherited from their predecessor.
