The Net Worth Of The American Presidents: Washington To Obama

[Dappleganger]

http://247wallst.com/2010/05/17/the-net-worth-of-the-american-presidents-washington-to-obama/

"24/7 Wall St. has examined the finances of all forty-three presidents. This article provides net worth figures for each in 2010 dollars. Because a number of presidents, particularly in the early 19th Century, made and lost huge fortunes in a matter of a few years, the number for each man is based on his net worth at its peak.

In the case of each president we have taken into account hard assets like land, estimated lifetime savings based on work history, inheritance, homes, and money paid for services, which include things as diverse as their salary as Collector of Customs at the Port of New York to membership on Fortune 500 boards. Royalties on books have also been taken into account, along with ownership of companies and yields from family estates.

The net worth of the presidents varies widely. George Washington was worth over half a billion in today’s dollars. Several presidents went bankrupt.

The fortunes of American presidents are tied to the economy in the eras in which they lived. For the first 75 years after Washington’s election, presidents generally made money on land, crops, and commodity speculation. A president who owned hundreds or thousands of acres could lose most or all of his property after a few years of poor crop yields. Wealthy Americans occasionally lost all of their money through land speculation—leveraging the value of one piece of land to buy additional property. Since there was no reliable national banking system and almost no liquidity in the value of private companies, land was the asset likely to provide the greatest yield, if the property yielded enough to support the costs of operating the farm or plantation."

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This is an interesting read. What do make of it?

[NYC_SKP]

1. Obama: Lowest Net Worth Since Truman. n/t

[rpannier]

3. For now

As the article mentions, Carter left office in debt and Clinton was hardly rolling in dough
Both made it up writing books after they left office

[rpannier]

2. I found it an interesting read

I never knew that Jefferson found himself in financial difficulty at the end of his life
I think it's interesting that so many Presidents were so incredibly wealthy and many lost most, if not all, of their wealth
I also find it interesting that Truman was the last US President who was not a millionaire and one of only three in the 20th Century who weren't

[tavalon]

4. Well, if that doesn't put the Horatio Alger story to bed, I don't know what will

[gateley]

5. Boy, that was interesting -- thanks!! nt