Which presidents presided over the largest percentage increases in federal debt?
Executive summary
The largest percentage increases in federal debt occurred under presidents who presided during major crises and prolonged spending—Franklin D. Roosevelt is widely identified as the single biggest percentage increase (Civil War-era exceptions aside for earlier presidencies), while modern large-percent increases are recorded under Ronald Reagan and the post-2008/2020 eras; specific per-president percentage rankings vary across compilations and depend on whether analysts count gross debt, debt held by the public, or short-term swings tied to recessions and pandemic relief (Statista and multiple compilations note Reagan among the largest modern percentage increases) [1] [2]. Available sources do not provide a single, definitive ranked list in this packet that uses a consistent methodology for every president.
1. Why “percentage increase” is a tricky headline number
Percentage change in the national debt depends on starting and ending points, and whether the measure is gross federal debt, debt held by the public, or deficits “approved” by a president—different trackers and analysts use different baselines, producing different leaders; Statista’s chart of “percent-change national debt by president” illustrates variation and places Reagan high among modern presidents, but it’s one of several methodologies in use [1] [2].
2. Historical outlier: wars and FDR’s outsized climb
Long-run historical analyses single out presidents who led during major wars or extraordinary national projects as creating the largest percentage increases; reporting in compilation-type sources notes Franklin D. Roosevelt as contributing the largest percentage increase in the U.S. national debt in U.S.-debt-by-president treatments [3]. These outcomes reflect enormous New Deal and World War II-era spending relative to pre-crisis GDP and debt levels [3].
3. Modern era: Reagan and large percentage gains
Among post-World War II presidents, Ronald Reagan’s administration is consistently identified by data aggregators as a top example of large percentage rise in federal debt—the 1980s deficits (tax cuts plus defense spending) produced a sharp climb in debt as a share and in percent change over his term, according to Statista’s president-by-president percent-change chart and modern summaries [1] [2].
4. COVID-19 and pandemic-era spikes complicate attribution
The COVID-19 pandemic produced one of the fastest and largest dollar increases in debt; analysts and watchdogs note huge pandemic relief packages pushed debt sharply higher in 2020–21. That spike affects percentage-change calculations for the presidents in office around 2020–2024, and makes simple president-to-president comparisons misleading without adjusting for crisis-related emergency spending [4] [5].
5. Recent debates: Trump and Biden totals differ by metric
Contemporary sources disagree on headline numbers and how to attribute them. Some congressional statements and summaries claim Biden added $8.4 trillion and Trump $7.8 trillion during their respective recent terms (House opening statements and congressional hearing excerpts), while budget analysts like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and other trackers report different figures depending on “approved ten‑year borrowing” vs. gross debt change; CRFB notes Biden approved roughly $4.7 trillion in new ten‑year borrowing through legislation, illustrating the variance in measurement [6] [7] [4]. These internal disagreements show that “biggest percentage increase” answers change with methodology [4].
6. How journalists and analysts measure and rank presidents
Databases and outlets (Statista, Self, The Balance/Investopedia-style writeups) compile per-president tables but vary on whether they start counting at inauguration day, end of fiscal year, or use “debt held by the public” vs. total gross debt. The choice of metric can move a president up or down the list—Statista’s percent-change series is one commonly cited metric for ranking by percent change [1] [2] [8].
7. What the available sources don’t settle
The provided material does not contain a single, uniformly constructed ranked list that definitively states “these X presidents had the largest percentage increases” using one agreed metric. Specific modern-dollar totals and percentage ranks differ across the House hearing, CRFB, media compilations, and data portals; for example, claims that Biden added $8.4 trillion (hearing transcript) and CRFB’s estimate that Biden approved $4.7 trillion in ten‑year borrowing are not directly comparable [6] [7] [4].
8. Takeaway for readers
If you want a definitive, reproducible ranking, pick and state your metric: gross federal debt vs. debt held by the public, and precise start/end dates. Under widely used percent‑change approaches, FDR (and Civil War–era presidencies if you include 19th‑century anomalies) leads historically; among modern presidents Ronald Reagan is a clear large-percentage case, and pandemic-era presidencies show large percentage and dollar swings that complicate apples-to-apples comparisons [1] [3] [4].