Every Republican President Over The Last 100 Years Has Had A Recession
The stock market took another tumble today amid the revelation of data showing that there is an unprecedented economic collapse in China, where the coronavirus outbreak originated. According to the CDC and other government agencies, there are now over 3,000 cases of the Coronavirus in the United States. Despite the Federal Reserve slashing interest rates to 0–0.25%, it seems that an economic recession is inevitable.
There have been many crazy Tweets floating around the Twitter world during this pandemic and economic slide. One that particularly peaked my interest was the following:
As anyone that has experience with Twitter knows, it is best to research such tweets before mindlessly retweeting them. This article is the precise result of that research. Upon researching the claim in the Tweet above, I can confirm that every Republican president over the last 100 years has indeed had a recession while they were in office.
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This excludes Donald Trump, since we are not officially, in a recession yet. To be declared an official recession, there has to be consecutive contraction of GDP over the course of two quarters, or six months.
For specificity purposes, I am defining that a recession took place while the president was in office, even if it was inherited.
The Last 100 Years of Recessions
The last 100 years has seen a total of 17 separate recessions. Of these 17 recessions, 5 of which took while a Democratic President was in the oval office. 1 Recession began while a Republican was in office (George W. Bush) and was inherited by a Democrat (Barack Obama).
- The Depression of 1920–21: Woodrow Wilson
- The Recession of 1937–38: Franklin D. Roosevelt
- The Recession of 1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt (Began in Feb. 1945, Truman took over in April of 1945)
- The Recession of 1949: Harry S. Truman
- The 1980 Recession: Jimmy Carter
- The Great Recession: Barack Obama (inherited from George W. Bush)
12 of these recessions took place while a Republican held the White House.
- The 1923–24 Recession: Warren G. Harding
- The 1926–27 Recession: Calvin Coolidge
- The Great Depression: Herbert Hoover
- The Recession of 1953: Dwight D. Eisenhower
- The Recession of 1958: Dwight D. Eisenhower
- The Recession of 1960–1961: Dwight D. Eisenhower
- The Recession of 1969–1970: Richard Nixon
- The Recession of 1973–75: Richard Nixon (Began in Nov. 1973, Ford took over in August of 1974)
- The 1981–82 Recession: Ronald Reagan
- Early 1990s recession in the United States: George H.W. Bush
- Early 2000s Recession: George W. Bush
- The Great Recession: George W. Bush (Began Dec. 2007, Obama took office Jan. 2009)
Did every Republican President over the past 100 years have recession take place during their Tenure? Yes
The answer is yes. Below is a list of the Republican presidents over the past 100 years, excluding Donald Trump. However it now seems inevitable that he will in fact join this list.
Warren G. Harding: March 4, 1921 — August 2, 1923
- Recession while in office? Yes
Calvin Coolidge: August 2, 1923 — March 4, 1929
- Recession while in office? Yes
Herbert Hoover: March 4, 1929 — March 4, 1933
- Recession while in office? Yes
Dwight D. Eisenhower: January 20, 1953 — January 20, 1961
- Recession while in office? Yes
Richard Nixon: January 20, 1969 — August 9, 1974
- Recession while in office? Yes
Gerald Ford: August 9, 1974 — January 20, 1977
- Recession while in office? Yes
Ronald Reagan: January 20, 1981 — January 20, 1989
- Recession while in office? Yes
George H.W. Bush: January 20, 1989 — January 20, 1993
- Recession while in office? Yes
George W. Bush: January 20, 2001 — January 20, 2009
- Recession while in office? Yes
Donald J. Trump: January 20, 2017 — Incumbent
- Recession while in office? TBA
What about the Democratic Presidents?
There have been 8 Democratic Presidents over the past 100 years to hold the oval office. 3 of which had no economic recession under their tenure. Barack Obama inherited a recession from George W. Bush that lasted until June 2009, his first year in office.
Woodrow Wilson: March 4, 1913 — March 4, 1921
- Recession while in office? Yes
Franklin D. Roosevelt: March 4, 1933 — April 12, 1945
- Recession while in office? Yes
Harry S. Truman: April 12, 1945 — January 20, 1953
- Recession while in office? Yes
John F. Kennedy: January 20, 1961 — November 22, 1963
- Recession while in office? No
Lyndon B. Johnson: November 22, 1963 — January 20, 1969
- Recession while in office? No
Jimmy Carter: January 20, 1977 — January 20, 1981
- Recession while in office? Yes
Bill Clinton: January 20, 1993 — January 20, 2001
- Recession while in office? No
Barack Obama: January 20, 2009 — January 20, 2017
- Recession while in office? Yes
Final Word
With the growing economic struggles, one would have to presume that we are heading for another economic recession in the United States. As of today, March 16, 2020 all of the stock market gains that Donald Trump has loved to brag about during his tenure have been virtually erased.
With that being said, the stock market decline is just one aspect of the financial hardship that us Americans will face in coming days. While only 55% of Americans own stock, the majority of Americans will be hurt by the economic decline. In a nation where 78% of workers live paycheck to paycheck and almost 40% of adults cannot afford a $400 emergency, the road ahead is undoubtedly going to be difficult.
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