The Net Worths of US Presidents

The Atlantic listed the net worths of all the US presidents a few months ago and I'm just getting around to highlighting the piece. Here are some notable entries:

1st president: George Washington (1789-1797) Estimated net worth: $525 million

3rd president: Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) Estimated net worth: $212 million

16th president: Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) Estimated net worth: Less than $1 million

26th president: Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) Estimated net worth: $125 million

32nd president: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945) Estimated net worth: $60 million

33rd president: Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) Estimated net worth: Less than $1 million

35th president: John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1961-1963) Estimated net worth: Although he never inherited his father's fortune, the Kennedy family estate was worth nearly $1 billion dollars

44th president: Barack Obama (2009-present) Estimated net worth: $5 million

My thoughts:

• Most were very wealthy. Probably because what made them successful and able to become president also made them the sort of people who make a lot of money.
• JFK was the wealthiest, though he never got his hands on the family fortune. After him, I believe George Washington was the wealthiest president. Kind of surprising to me.
• Several presidents tied for last with net worths "below $1 million." They are (in addition to Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Truman): James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses Simpson Grant, James Abram Garfield, Chester Alan Arthur, Woodrow Wilson, and Calvin Coolidge. Still, only 10 out of 44 who had "low" net worths still demonstrates that most presidents are fairly wealthy.
• Obama is a young guy and I'm guessing he'll add substantially to his wealth in years to come (most likely after his presidency.) He'll probably write a book (like all the other presidents) and make a ba-zillion dollars. I think that's about $4.72 per hours considering he's working round the clock as prez. ;-)

Anything you see that's interesting?

Comments

[Bill]

Jefferson died nearly broke (according to the people at Monticello) - his estate was sold to pay off the debts (or something like that). He may have been a good President, but was supposedly a terrible business owner.

[Money Reasons]

Hmmm, I thought Thomas Jefferson died poor, interesting that he was very rich when he was president!

It just shows that just because you are brilliant, doesn't mean you can neglect financial planning in life...

[Paul]

I am assuming George Washington's wealth was translated into 2010 dollars. Correct?

[FMF]

Paul --

Yes, that is correct.

[rdub98]

I found it interesting that of the 10 lowest networths, it was spread fairly evenly between democrats and republicans (with the exception of Andrew Johnson who was from the War Union party). R's-5, D's-4

[Barry]

I read that one of the reasons that led to Washington favoring revolution is that as a farmer, most of his crops were sold in England, and in turn he used that money to buy goods from England. He always felt like he was being underpaid for his crops and was being overcharged for the stuff he bought.

I'm guessing most of his net worth was from unsettled land he owned. I wonder if he could've really sold the land for that much during his life or only later.

[Texas Wahoo]

"Jefferson died nearly broke (according to the people at Monticello) - his estate was sold to pay off the debts (or something like that). He may have been a good President, but was supposedly a terrible business owner."

He was a terrible business owner because he didn't consider himself a business owner. He considered himself more of an inventor and spent huge sums of money on that.

"•Obama is a young guy and I'm guessing he'll add substantially to his wealth in years to come (most likely after his presidency.) He'll probably write a book (like all the other presidents) and make a ba-zillion dollars."

Hasn't he already written a couple of books? I belive one came out right after he became president.

These days, just becoming president makes you extremely wealthy. Even if you're not particuarly popular, being the president allows you to make a killing on speaking engagements later in life. Bill Clinton was not wealthy until he became president.

[Tyler]

Washington married one of the wealthiest widows in the nation.(Martha's great grand daughter is the mother of another famous general-Robert E Lee.) Washington was not known as a wealthy man prior to his marriage.

Truman never made a dime. He married the wealthy girl in town. They never owned a house until after he retired I think. Failed in business before WWI failed in business after the war (ran a store). Became a judge, then a congressman, then a vp, then a president.

JFK might have been wealthy but his father is the brains behind that wealth.

Obama was in debt until after his political career and the advance on his books. Before his books, he was the exact person this blog uses as a bad example.

FMF- in your comments you mention Teddy at the bottom of the net worth/less than 1mm. Yet above he is listed as one of the more wealthy (and rightly so).

Bottom line- none of the wealthy leaders made their money. It was inherited which then allowed them to pursue 'other' interests.

[Sean Browne]

I'm really surprised to see that President Lincoln is not worth more than the estimated $1 million. I figured since he was one of the most recognizable presidents we have had in the U.S. his worth would be much more.

[FMF]

Tyler --

That's a mistake of mine. I'll correct it.

Thanks!

[Texas Wahoo]

"I'm really surprised to see that President Lincoln is not worth more than the estimated $1 million. I figured since he was one of the most recognizable presidents we have had in the U.S. his worth would be much more."

Many of the presidents made money after their presidency ended. For obvious reasons, Lincoln was unable to do so.

[Jason @ Redeeming Riches]

Does that mean all that talk about, "You can be president some day, kid" is a bunch of garbage when you're little...unless you come from money?

[MattJ]

Jason,

That doesn't seem accurate to me. Recent presidents who didn't 'come from money' include Obama, Clinton, Reagan, Carter (arguably, depending on how much money is needed to 'come from money'), Nixon, Ike. My guess is about half of presidents don't 'come from money', though nearly all presidents will come into money on their way to the presidency.

[Sergio]

Please let me know about BUSH, family?

[StL Pastor]

FMF, I think your first bullet point (being president requires skills that also lead you to become rich) really needs to be balanced with points suggesting 'inheriting a lot of money makes it a lot easier to become president,' and 'being president means you can make a lot of money fairly easily afterwards'.

[MasterPo]

Give Obama time. He's just getting started...

[frodo]

Arguably, Obama came from money as well. He went to the highest cost private school in Hawaii and never had to get a job. His grade school costs were $14K a year, and that was years ago. Even for most of his grown-up life, he was fully financially supported by family. Not quite Kennedy family wealthy, but still wealthy.

Clinton was less wealthy than Obama; that said, Clinton's family owned a grocery store and an automobile dealership - a far cry from growing up in a typical family.

Reagan on the other hand truly came from a dirt broke family. That said, he obvously had some luck on his side with the acting bit.