United States' National Debt by Year

What is the United States’ National Debt by Year?

Various economists have noted significant patterns between changes in the National debt and US presidential terms over the past few decades. These professionals observe the presence of such changes in the nation’s national debt and attribute them with the political ideology of the ruling administration.

As a result of this pattern, it can be affirmed that changes in policy and spending have a fundamental affect on the nation’s public debt. The following table will illustrate the national debt from 1978 to 2010 and the coordinating president who imposed the respective spending policy.

1977 (Ford, Republican)—Federal Debt was $706 Billion

1978 (Carter, Democrat—Nation had a budget surplus of $776 billion