President Barack Obama
President Obama had the largest deficits.
By the end of his final budget (FY 2017), his deficits were $6.690 trillion. Obama took office during the Great Recession. He immediately needed to spend billions to stop it. He convinced Congress to add the $787 billion economic stimulus package to Bush’s FY 2009 budget. This added $253 billion to the FY 2009 budget. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act added another $534 billion over the rest of Obama’s terms.
In 2010, the Obama tax cut added $858 billion to the debt in its first two years. Obama increased defense spending, adding as much as $800 billion a year. Federal income decreased due to lower tax receipts from the 2008 financial crisis.
Both Presidents Bush and Obama suffered from higher mandatory spending than their predecessors did. Social Security and Medicare benefits were eating up more of the budget.
That's because health care costs were rising as the American population aged. In 2010, Obama launched the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It sought to reduce health care spending. This reduction would lower the debt by $143 billion by 2020. For more, see National Debt Under Obama.
President George W. Bush
President Bush is next, racking up $3.293 trillion over two terms. He responded to the 9/11 attacks with the War on Terror. That raised military spending to $600 billion a year. The Bush tax cuts, also known as EGTRRA and JGTRRA, cut taxes to address the 2001 recession. Unfortunately, the cuts did not sunset when the recession was over. That worsened the housing boom and depleted revenues during the 2008 recession. He attacked the 2008 financial crisis with the $700 billion bailout. Congress added the bailout to the mandatory budget. There it became the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
President Ronald Reagan
President Reagan added $1.412 trillion in deficits, nearly doubling the debt. He fought the 1982 recession by cutting the top income tax rate from 70 percent to 28 percent and the corporate rate from 48 percent to 34 percent. Reagan also increased government spending by 2.5 percent a year. That included a 35 percent increase in the defense budget and an expansion of Medicare.
President George H.W. Bush
President George H.W. Bush created a $1.03 trillion deficit in one term. He responded to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait with Desert Storm. He oversaw the $125 billion bailout that ended the 1989 Savings and Loan crisis. The 1991 recession cut into tax revenue.
Budget Deficits by Fiscal Year
Although most other presidents ran deficits, none came close to these four. Part of that is because the U.S. economy, as measured by GDP, was so much smaller for other presidents. For example, in 1981 GDP was only $3 trillion, five times smaller than the $15 trillion GDP in 2012.
The table below shows each president's annual budget deficits since Woodrow Wilson. For more, see Deficit by Year and Debt by Year.
President Donald Trump: Total Projected = $440 billion. A decrease from Obama's last budget.
FY 2018 - $440 billion projected. For more, see Is Trump or Obama Better for the Economy?
President Barack Obama: Total Expected Plus Actual Deficits = $6.690 trillion, a 57 percent increase.
FY 2017 - $666 billion. Although Trump requested additional spending, Congress did not approve it.
FY 2016 - $585 billion.
FY 2015 - $438 billion.
FY 2014 - $485 billion.
FY 2013 - $679 billion.
FY 2012 - $1.087 trillion.
FY 2011 - $1.300 trillion.
FY 2010 - $1.547 ($1.294 trillion plus $253 billion from the Obama Stimulus Act that was attached to the FY 2009 budget).
President George W. Bush: Total = $3.293 trillion, a 57 percent increase.
FY 2009 - $1.16 trillion. ($1.413 trillion minus $253 billion from Obama's Stimulus Act)
FY 2008 - $459 billion.
FY 2007 - $161 billion.
FY 2006 - $248 billion.
FY 2005 - $318 billion.
FY 2004 - $413 billion.
FY 2003 - $378 billion.
FY 2002 - $158 billion.
President Bill Clinton: Total = $63 billion surplus, a 1 percent decrease.
FY 2001 - $128 billion surplus.
FY 2000 - $236 billion surplus.
FY 1999 - $126 billion surplus.
FY 1998 - $69 billion surplus.
FY 1997 - $22 billion.
FY 1996 - $107 billion.
FY 1995 - $164 billion.
FY 1994 - $203 billion.
President George H.W. Bush: Total = $1.036 trillion, a 36 percent increase.
FY 1993 - $255 billion.
FY 1992 - $290 billion.
FY 1991 - $269 billion.
FY 1990 - $221 billion.
President Ronald Reagan: Total = $1.412 trillion, a 142 percent increase
FY 1989 - $153 billion.
FY 1988 - $155 billion.
FY 1987 - $150 billion.
FY 1986 - $221 billion.
FY 1985 - $212 billion.
FY 1984 - $185 billion.
FY 1983 - $208 billion.
FY 1982 - $128 billion.
President Jimmy Carter: Total = $253 billion, a 36 percent increase.
FY 1981 - $79 billion.
FY 1980 - $74 billion.
FY 1979 - $41 billion.
FY 1978 - $59 billion.
President Gerald Ford: Total = $181 billion, a 38 percent increase.
FY 1977 - $54 billion.
FY 1976 - $74 billion.
FY 1975 - $53 billion.
President Richard Nixon: Total = $70 billion, a 20 percent increase.
FY 1974 - $6 billion.
FY 1973 - $15 billion.
FY 1972 - $23 billion.
FY 1971 - $23 billion.
FY 1970 - $3 billion.
President Lyndon B. Johnson: Total = $36 billion, an 11 percent increase.
FY 1969 - $3 billion surplus.
FY 1968 - $25 billion.
FY 1967 - $9 billion.
FY 1966 - $4 billion.
FY 1965 - $1 billion.
President John F. Kennedy: Total = $18 billion, a 6 percent increase.
FY 1964 - $6 billion.
FY 1963 - $5 billion.
FY 1962 - $7 billion.
President Dwight Eisenhower: Total = $15 billion, a 6 percent increase.
FY 1961 - $3 billion.
FY 1960 - $0 billion (slight surplus).
FY 1959 - $13 billion.
FY 1958 - $3 billion.
FY 1957 - $3 billion surplus.
FY 1956 - $4 billion surplus.
FY 1955 - $3 billion.
FY 1954 - $1 billion.
President Harry Truman: Total = $5 billion, a 2 percent increase.
FY 1953 - $6 billion.
FY 1952 - $2 billion.
FY 1951 - $6 billion surplus.
FY 1950 - $3 billion.
FY 1949 - $1 billion surplus.
FY 1948 - $12 billion surplus.
FY 1947 - $4 billion surplus.
FY 1946 - $16 billion.
https://www.thebalance.com/deficit-by-president-what-budget-deficits-hide-3306151
