Why Did Presidents Seem Incredibly Rich Yet Were Completely Broke Most of the Time?

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Was Harry Truman really our poorest president or simply a man up at 2 a.m. struggling with financial anxiety? Did Calvin Coolidge get bad advice from his stockbroker to buy stocks in 1930 as the market continued to crash? Is it true George Washington enhanced his net worth by marrying up?

We often think of the US presidents as being above the fray. But the truth is, the presidents are just like us—worried about money, trying to keep a budget, and chasing the American financial dream. While some presidents like Herbert Hoover and Gerald Ford became wildly successful with money, others like Thomas Jefferson and Joe Biden struggled to sustain their lifestyle. The ability to win the presidency is no guarantee of financial security, although today it’s a much easier path to monetize.

Today’s guest is Megan Gorman, author of “All the Presidents’ Money.” We look at the different personal money stories of the presidents. Grit, education, and risk are just some of the different ways that the presidents over the last 250 years have made (or lost) money.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Scott here with another episode of the History and Plug Podcast.
0:08.0	The Founding Fathers were on the one hand, incredibly rich,
0:11.0	but yet many end of their lives completely broke.
0:14.0	George Washington owned over 60,000 acres and was one of America's largest land owners, but lost
0:19.3	most of his net worth after the Revolutionary War due to the collapse of the Atlantic economy. at the at Monticello, and after he died his heir sold his estate to pay for his debts.
0:34.4	In today's episode, we're going to look at President's Strange relationship with money
0:38.1	and how some were very good with personal finance like Gerald Ford and others were absolutely terrible.
0:43.2	We're also going to look at whether or not one's ability with personal finance translated
0:47.5	to economic policy.
0:48.6	If you could handle your own personal ledger well, then were you also good at allocating trillions of dollars in the
0:54.3	American economy. To explore this connection between presidential success and
0:58.4	personal finance we're joined by Megan Gorman author of all the president's
1:01.5	money hope you enjoy this discussion.
1:03.6	And one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for word from
1:09.6	our sponsors.
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1:18.0	Hi, everyone.
1:19.0	I'm Dr. Carl Mueller with the Inside the Epicenter podcast.
1:22.0	Every week, my co-host, best-selling author Joy. Mueller with the Inside the Epicenter podcast.
1:22.7	Every week, my co-host,
	...

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