Explore the economic record of presidents, starting with Harry S Truman. Updated with recent data.
To examine the record of presidents regarding economics, I gathered data from several sources and present it in an interactive visualization. It holds about 47,000 observations of 90 variables.
The example shown below is the federal deficit as a percent of gross domestic product.
The extent to which presidents have influence or control over these matters is a matter of debate. Opinions usually depend on whether the economy is doing well or not, and which political party is in the White House.
To access the interactive visualization, click on Visualization: Presidential data explorer.
(Click charts for larger versions.)