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U.S. PRESIDENTS, RANKED BY WEALTH [Using 2010 dollars]
supercompressor.com ^
| 10/15/14
| ETHAN WOLFF-MANN
Posted on 12/10/2014 7:20:16 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
U.S. Presidents, Ranked By Wealth
U.S. Presidents, Ranked By Wealth
jornal.us
Posted on 10/15/14 By
Ethan Wolff-Mann
197339
America might not have a royal family, but it's sure had a pretty large correlation between wealth and power, especially in our early years. Fueled by a heavy dose of curiosity, Wikipedia, and the public domain repository of presidential portraits, below we've ranked all the presidents by net worth*.
Perhaps the biggest conclusions from this list? Family money + law firms = you get to be president.
*All figures in 2010 dollars from 24/7 Wall Street's excellent list.
All Other Photos: Public Domain
In Office: 1945–1953
Never finished college, came from a farm, worked as a timekeeper on the railroad, slept with the rail-riders...not much money to be made in any of that. Oh, Harry.
In Office: 1923–1929
The man had a nice farmhouse. I've been there. It's in Vermont. He was a lawyer. It was a simple story.
In Office: 1913–1921
He might have a school at Princeton named after him like Kennedy, but he did it through the academy, becoming the president of Princeton after teaching.
In Office: 1881–1885
Chet was a teacher and then a lawyer born in rural Vermont. Unpretentious.
In Office: 1881–1881
Being a preacher doesn't net you much, but he was a lawyer too, so he never went hungry.
In Office: 1869–1877
All soldiering. No business. Or lawyering.
In Office: 1865–1869
He was a successful tailor, of all things. His work "never ripped or gave way," he boasted.
In Office: 1861–1865
You know this story. There is not much cash involved. But a ton of logs.
In Office: 1857–1861
The only president to never marry. Buchanan almost married a rich girl (who was,TMZ reported, suspicious of his motives) but it was broken off when he visited a friend's wife.
In Office: 1921–1923
They say he was a "journalist," but he was also a businessman, owning the Marion Daily Star, which gave him a loud voice. (He was also very corrupt, giving all his friends big positions and involving himself in the biggest imbroglio up until Watergate.)
In Office: 1897–1901
A former private in the Union army, he made a million through lawyering and politics.
In Office: 1853–1857
Apparently regarded as one of the worst presidents in history for his failure to prevent the Civil War, lawyer Franklin didn't have much money, since he was born in a log cabin.
In Office: 1909–1913
Wikipedia says he was born into the "Powerful Taft Family," but how powerful could it have been with that modest sum? A lifelong government man who held both the office of the Presidency as well as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he was forced to accept public sector compensation. He apparently didn't starve, though.
In Office: 1877–1881
Lawyer. Military man. Presidential cliche.
In Office: 1850–1853
Like Lincoln, Millard was born in a log cabin. But he did alright thanks to his legal work and politics.
In Office: 1889–1893
He had some of his grandfather's money—also on this list—but added to the pile using politics and law, like everyone else on this list.
In Office: 1841–1841
Born on a plantation, he had his family money, which was good because he had a career in the military, which came with military pay.
In Office: 1849–1850
Zach made his cash the old fashioned way—through daddy's plantation. He was a career military man, a Major General by profession.
In Office: 1977–1981
Peanuts and public speaking.
In Office: 1974–1977
He might have had some money from a prominent banker parent, but it looks like he made most of his cash as a lawyer and politician.
In Office: 1953–1961
Ike was a career military man, but he developed quite a nice nest egg as General of the Army. He deserved that one, for sure.
In Office: 1845–1849
Another cotton plantation owner, Polk was a classic slave-owning a**h**e but on a smaller scale.
In Office: 2009–present
Yet to be immortalized in oils, our 44th President made his money through law and authoring a trio of best-sellers.
In Office: 1981–1989
Ain't no business like show business.
In Office: 1969–1974
Tricky Dick was a lawyer in California, doing litigation for oil companies before moving to Washington, D.C. to get into politics.
In Office: 1797–1801
He didn't have a ton of family money, didn't make much as a teacher or as a lawyer in Massachusetts, but his stature as a lawyer and politician grew; and since he lived until he was 90, so did his fortune.
In Office: 2001–2009
With oil and baseball (owner), we're not sure how W only has $20 million. Very curious.
In Office: 1825–1829
He was a lawyer, diplomat, and professor—pretty much the consummate career politician. That earned him something, but we suspect an inheritance was key.
In Office: 1989–1993
Using his father's connections, he broke into the oil business and started a fat oil company.
In Office: 1885–1889, 1893–1897
This lawyer won the popular vote three times and has been the only U.S. President to serve two terms not in a row. His father was a minister, so Grover made his own bones. (Though his rich uncle helped.)
In Office: 1837–1841
Slave-owning rich family. Lawyer. Par for the course, in those times.
In Office: 1817–1825
If you're a lawyer by trade, it helps to have a plantation to pay the bills.
In Office: 1841–1845
Lawyer. Aristocrat. 'Nuff said.
In Office: 1993–2001
Even though he was just a lawyer born into a modest home, Clinton has made an unconscionable amount with his public speaking. Modernity + celebrity = straight cash homie.
In Office: 1933–1945
Came from one of the wealthiest families in New York State. He could have pumped gas and still placed this high.
In Office: 1929–1933
Not a lawyer! He was a mining engineer, a civil engineer, and a businessman. He did quite well.
In Office: 1963–1969
A teacher by trade, he made his money through his lovely wife, Lady Bird, and having a monopoly on a radio station.
In Office: 1809–1817
The author of the Bill of Rights was a classic Virginian: owning a huge number of slaves on his tobacco plantation.
In Office: 1829–1837
Born into poverty, A.J. gained traction as a lawyer and then bought a plantation, reaping him millions. He also enjoyed dueling and committed a genocidal atrocity.
In Office: 1901–1909
Author, historian, explorer...Teddy was a born businessman and socialite. He knew how to play the game.
In Office: 1801–1809
His entrepreneurial spirit and law career eventually did help, but he got his cash from his wealthy slave-owning family.
In Office: 1789–1797
Did you know Georgie was so wealthy? Well, he had a tobacco plantation with hundreds of slaves. That'll do it.
In Office: 1961–1963
JFK's New Mexico drug empire coaxed in an unconscionable amount of cash. Just kidding, it was family money going all the way back to P.J. Kennedy.
Or was it?
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 1; money; wealth
I found this interesting.
To: SoFloFreeper
I thought Thomas Jefferson died virtually broke.
2
posted on
12/10/2014 7:21:31 AM PST
by
Texas Eagle
(If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all -- Texas Eagle)
To: Texas Eagle
I think they are estimating net worth at the time they left the presidency. Jefferson didn't die broke. He died on his plantation, not in the best of financial circumstances, but still well enough to found the University of Virginia and donate his vast library.
James Monroe died broke. He had to sell his plantation to pay his wife's medical bills, among other things. We're fortunate that his alma mater, the College of William and Mary, eventually acquired his plantation and preserved it.
3
posted on
12/10/2014 7:35:26 AM PST
by
Vigilanteman
(Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
To: SoFloFreeper
I dispute at least one of these findings:
My understanding is that Jefferson spent every dime of what he had on projects with which to strengthen this country and wound up in debt.
Thomas Jefferson bore the burden of substantial monetary debt throughout his life. Except for a brief period at the beginning of the nineteenth century,[1] it was not possible to declare bankruptcy and it was his reputation in large part that kept creditors at bay. While debt was not unusual for Virginia planters of his time, his eventually grew so ponderous that his family were forced to sell much of his property, including Monticello, after Jefferson's death. His grandson and executor of his estate, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, posted an advertisement for his estate sale, indicating that Jefferson's debts at his death amounted to $107,000. Converting this figure into a modern estimate is an inexact process at best, but it would probably be somewhere between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000. Many factors contributed to Jefferson's indebtedness, many of them beyond his control. These are only a few reasons behind the accumulation of his debt:
- Jefferson inherited a great deal of debt from his father-in-law, John Wayles, when Wayles died in 1774.
- Although Jefferson was wealthy in land and slaves, farming proved to be an unreliable and inadequate source of income. Also, although Jefferson himself was a major creditor, payments owed to him were unreliable and inadequate as well.
- Jefferson lived perpetually beyond his means, spending large amounts of money on building projects, furnishings, wine, etc.
- The financial panic that occurred in 1819 added a substantial burden onto his already-substantial debt. Also, he acquired debt from a friend in particular late in life. In 1818, Jefferson endorsed a $20,000 note for Wilson Cary Nicholas. Nicholas died in 1820, and Jefferson was forced to take on his unpaid debt.
Source I think that calls into question the sources for the entire article.
4
posted on
12/10/2014 7:43:35 AM PST
by
Carry_Okie
(Those who profess noblesse oblige regress to droit du seigneur.)
To: Texas Eagle
“I thought Thomas Jefferson died virtually broke.”
He did. And Washington struggled his whole life to make ends meet.
To: Texas Eagle
I thought Thomas Jefferson died virtually broke. TJ wasn't the only one. The Clintons were broke when they left office. I have it on the best authority - Hillary told us how poor she was.
6
posted on
12/10/2014 9:11:23 AM PST
by
Pollster1
("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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