United States President Archives

Mar

Updated: Presidential data explorer

Explore the economic record of presidents through the lens of data, with new views and updates. To examine the record of presidents regarding economics, I gathered data from several sources and present it in an interactive visualization. Today the interactive visualization has been updated with current data and several new views. (more…)

Visualization: Kansas 2020 presidential election

Jan

By Bob Weeks

Visualization: Kansas 2020 presidential election

An interactive visualization of the 2020 general election for president in Kansas, at the precinct level. (more…)

Proceed with the presidential transition

Nov

By Bob Weeks

Proceed with the presidential transition

Further delay in starting the transition to the Biden administration harms Americans. Kansas Republican leaders, please get started. I sincerely hope that the Republican federal officeholders who represent me, or who will soon represent me and my state, recognize that the presidential election is over, that Joe Biden won, and they encourage and help with a peaceful and effective transition to the new presidential administration. While none of these leaders -- Senator Pat Roberts, Senator Jerry Moran, Representative Ron Estes, Representative Roger Marshall, Representative-elect Jake LaTurner, and Representative-elect Tracey Mann -- have the power to compel the transition to start,…

Nov

By Bob Weeks

Pandemic’s influence on economy’s path

No matter who is president, a large challenge lies ahead, says the Federal Reserve. As we wait to learn who will be our president, economists at the Federal Reserve Bank warn us of the challenges we need to overcome. In a statement released today: The COVID-19 pandemic is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world. Economic activity and employment have continued to recover but remain well below their levels at the beginning of the year. Weaker demand and earlier declines in oil prices have been holding down consumer price inflation. Overall financial conditions…

Oct

By Bob Weeks

Presidential data explorer

Explore the economic record of presidents in an interactive visualization. If you're wondering how the records -- economic, mostly -- of presidents compare, here is the presidential data explorer. I've gathered a variety of data from many sources and present it in an interactive visualization. I know that some of the charts are crowded. But you can select which presidents to include, and you can click on one or more names for emphasis. Click here to learn more about the data and access the visualization.

Oct

By Bob Weeks

Trump and Russia sanctions

President Donald J. Trump presents himself as tough on Russia, but he opposed and complained about almost all sanctions. This year, John Bolton published The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir. It covers his time as National Security Advisor for the Trump Administration, which was from April 9, 2018 to September 10, 2019. When the book was published, the editors of the conservative National Review questioned the timing of the book, but wrote: "Bolton is a longtime friend of this publication and we take his honesty as a given. Any credibility contest between him and Donald Trump is…

Oct

By Bob Weeks

Presidential approval

Explore and compare the approval ratings of presidents in this interactive visualization. I've gathered presidential approval poll data and present it in an interactive visualization. I present data in a table and a timeline. Then, I present several views based on the poll date as the number of days from the start of each presidential term. To learn more about the data and access the interactive visualization, click here.

During the Trump administration, the economy grew

Sep

By Bob Weeks

During the Trump administration, the economy grew

The United States economy has grown since Donald J. Trump became president, until the pandemic. How does the growth compare with the previous administration? This chart holds plots of real gross domestic product (GDP) added over two periods of 12 quarters each. One line starts with the first quarter of 2017, which is the first quarter of the Trump administration. It ends with the fourth quarter of 2019, which is the last quarter that was not affected by the response to the pandemic. The other line starts with the first quarter of 2014 and covers the last 12 quarters of…

Sep

By Bob Weeks

Updated: Presidential data explorer

Explore the economic record of presidents through the lens of data, with new updates for August. To examine the record of presidents regarding economics, I gathered data from several sources and present it in an interactive visualization. Today the interactive visualization has been updated with jobs and Dow Jones data for the month of August. For each president, data is presented by month, with the first month of each president's term having number one. Presidents that served two full terms have data up to month 96 of their term, while others have fewer months. Data is shown in several views:…

Aug

By Bob Weeks

Libertarian campaign visits Wichita

In Wichita Story, Tim O'Bryhim reports on the visit of the Libertarian Party vice presidential candidate to Wichita: "It is another hot August day in Kansas; a good day to be inside. But a crowd gathers in the (sadly only proverbial) shadow of the Keeper of the Plains to welcome Spike Cohen, the vice-presidential candidate of the third largest political party in the United States of America. If elections were the Olympics, the Libertarian Party would proudly climb on the medals stand every four years with a bronze medal around its neck. But in American politics, third place is almost…