| End of Fiscal Year | Debt (in Billions, Rounded) | Major Events by Presidential Term |
|---|---|---|
| 1929 | $17 | Market crash |
| 1930 | $16 | Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act reduced trade |
| 1931 | $17 | Dust Bowl drought raged |
| 1932 | $20 | Hoover raised taxes |
| 1933 | $23 | New Deal increased GDP and debt |
| 1934 | $27 | |
| 1935 | $29 | Social Security |
| 1936 | $34 | Tax hikes renewed Great Depression |
| 1937 | $36 | Third New Deal |
| 1938 | $37 | Dust Bowl ended |
| 1939 | $40 | Depression ended |
| 1940 | $43 | FDR increased spending and raised taxes |
| 1941 | $49 | U.S. entered World War II |
| 1942 | $72 | Defense tripled |
| 1943 | $137 | |
| 1944 | $201 | Bretton Woods Agreement |
| 1945 | $259 | World War II ended |
| 1946 | $269 | Truman’s first-term budgets and recession |
| 1947 | $258 | Cold War |
| 1948 | $252 | Recession |
| 1949 | $253 | Recession |
| 1950 | $257 | Korean War boosted growth and debt |
| 1951 | $255 | |
| 1952 | $259 | |
| 1953 | $266 | Recession when war ended |
| 1954 | $271 | Eisenhower’s budgets and recession |
| 1955 | $274 | |
| 1956 | $273 | |
| 1957 | $271 | Recession |
| 1958 | $276 | Eisenhower’s 2nd term and recession |
| 1959 | $285 | Fed raised rates |
| 1960 | $286 | Recession |
| 1961 | $289 | Bay of Pigs |
| 1962 | $298 | JFK budgets and Cuban Missile Crisis |
| 1963 | $306 | U.S. aids Vietnam; JFK killed |
| 1964 | $312 | LBJ’s budgets and war on poverty |
| 1965 | $317 | U.S. entered Vietnam War |
| 1966 | $320 | |
| 1967 | $326 | |
| 1968 | $348 | |
| 1969 | $354 | Nixon took office |
| 1970 | $371 | Recession |
| 1971 | $398 | Wage-price controls |
| 1972 | $427 | Stagflation |
| 1973 | $458 | Nixon ended gold standard; OPEC oil embargo |
| 1974 | $475 | Watergate; Nixon resigns; budget process created |
| 1975 | $533 | Vietnam War ended |
| 1976 | $620 | Stagflation |
| 1977 | $699 | Stagflation |
| 1978 | $772 | Carter budgets and recession |
| 1979 | $827 | |
| 1980 | $908 | Fed Chairman Volcker raised fed rate to 20% |
| 1981 | $998 | Reagan tax cut |
| 1982 | $1,142 | Reagan increased spending |
| 1983 | $1,377 | Jobless rate 10.8% |
| 1984 | $1,572 | Increased defense spending |
| 1985 | $1,823 | |
| 1986 | $2,125 | Reagan lowered taxes |
| 1987 | $2,350 | Market crash |
| 1988 | $2,602 | Fed raised rates |
| 1989 | $2,857 | S&L Crisis |
| 1990 | $3,233 | First Iraq War |
| 1991 | $3,665 | Recession |
| 1992 | $4,065 | |
| 1993 | $4,411 | Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act |
| 1994 | $4,693 | Clinton budgets |
| 1995 | $4,974 | |
| 1996 | $5,225 | Welfare reform |
| 1997 | $5,413 | |
| 1998 | $5,526 | Long-Term Capital Management crisis; recession |
| 1999 | $5,656 | Glass-Steagall Act repealed |
| 2000 | $5,674 | Budget surplus |
| 2001 | $5,807 | 9/11 attacks; Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act |
| 2002 | $6,228 | War on Terror |
| 2003 | $6,783 | Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act; second Iraq War |
| 2004 | $7,379 | Second Iraq War |
| 2005 | $7,933 | Bankruptcy Act; Hurricane Katrina |
| 2006 | $8,507 | Bernanke chaired Fed |
| 2007 | $9,008 | Banks crisis |
| 2008 | $10,025 | Bank bailouts; quantitative easing (QE) |
| 2009 | $11,910 | Bailout cost $250 billion; American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) added $242 billion |
| 2010 | $13,562 | ARRA added $400B; payroll tax holiday ended; Obama tax cuts; Affordable Care Act; Simpson-Bowles debt reduction plan |
| 2011 | $14,790 | Debt crisis, recession, and tax cuts reduced revenue |
| 2012 | $16,066 | Fiscal cliff |
| 2013 | $16,738 | Sequester; government shutdown |
| 2014 | $17,824 | QE ended; debt ceiling crisis |
| 2015 | $18,151 | Oil prices fell |
| 2016 | $19,573 | Brexit |
| 2017 | $20,245 | Congress raised the debt ceiling |
| 2018 | $21,516 | Trump tax cuts |
| 2019 | $22,719 | Trade wars |
| 2020 | $26,945 | COVID-19 and recession |
| 2021 | $28,428 | COVID-19 and American Rescue Plan Act |
| 2022 | $30,928 | Inflation Reduction Act |