Ah cain’t figyer it owt. Is there an abridged version for dummies?
The left side of the chart shows individual years and the national debt plus the percentage change from the year before.
The President, Senate, and House columns show the debt during the continuous period held by that political party.
The Period column shows the debt for the period of the specific combination of President, Senate, and House party. A Period is a period of time during which the controlling party of the President, Senate and House does not change.
The Event column is simply to show major events during that period of time that might sugggest why spending was higher than normal.