# Wealthiest ever presidential race?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wealthiest-ever-presidential-race/255518
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 17, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wealthiest-ever-presidential-race/255518 "2004-07-17T00:35:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wealthiest-ever-presidential-race/255518/1 "2004-07-17T00:35:37Z")
Measured in terms of the personal wealth of the 4 candidates, is 2004 the richest ever? If not now, when?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wealthiest-ever-presidential-race/255518/2 "2004-07-17T03:46:44Z")
I recently saw an article listing the personal wealth of several Presidents at the time they were inaugerated. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep it to help answer your question but one surprising fact I remember was FDR’s worth; $11,000,000 (and that was adjusted for inflation). I always thought Roosevelt was one of the richest Presidents, but in fact he wasn’t even the richest candidate when he was elected in 1932 (Hoover had over four times as much money).
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### Author:  [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wealthiest-ever-presidential-race/255518/3 "2004-07-17T06:15:19Z")
> [@Boyo Jim](#):
>
> Measured in terms of the personal wealth of the 4 candidates, is 2004 the richest ever? If not now, when?
In terms of the total wealth of the four candidates, it’s hard to say. Do you count Teresa Kerry’s fortune as part of John’s net worth? In comparing against past candidates, do you count the Kennedy and Roosevelt family fortunes as part of FDR and JFK’s net worth? If you count third party candidates, mega-rich 1992 candidate Ross Perot trumped the entire 2004 field, plus Teresa, _by himself_.
The striking thing about the 2004 field, however, is not its total net worth but the fact that _all four major party candidates_ are very wealthy. Per [Forbes Magazine](http://www.forbes.com/execpicks/2004/07/06/cx_0706presidents.html), all have a net worth of at least $10 million. Even if you adjust for inflation and count family fortunes, this has never happened before.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wealthiest-ever-presidential-race/255518/4 "2004-07-17T15:49:56Z")
What about the 1960 Presidential race? Kennedy, Johnson, and Lodge were all very wealthy men.
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### Author:  [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wealthiest-ever-presidential-race/255518/5 "2004-07-17T16:22:53Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#):
>
> What about the 1960 Presidential race? Kennedy, Johnson, and Lodge were all very wealthy men.
Right, but Nixon wasn’t. If you try to compare the **sum** of the wealth of the four candidates, you’ll run into the definitional problems mentioned above. But by the arguably more relevant standard of comparing the _least wealthy_ of the four candidates, 2004 wins hands down.