"Doesn't that chart show 1929 as only around 140%, and the spike occurring during the depression?"
It does. And, considering the intending meaning of this chart in context, I suppose some people think the Great Depression was a "good" thing, since the deficit as a percentage of GDP declined.
Same for Carter. Trump once said on LKL that looking back, that late-70s period was not just a severe recession but a Second Depression.
And how did Carter fubar America? Suppressing ND as a fetish; choking off M1; and strangling growth through high interest rates.