Prior to Donald Trump who was the richest man, adjusted for inflation, to be elected President?
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Different criteria. FDR and JFK were from very wealthy families, and their personal wealth was whatever share of the family wealth was handed over to them to call their own. Trump, on the other hand, created all his own wealth, so his “family wealth” is all his own.
George Washington, according to this list
I’d always heard George Washington was far and away the wealthiest President. Sorry no cite.
A major problem with Trump is his claimed wealth vs. actual wealth differs quite a bit and is very uncertain.
There are rumors that his total worth is actually negative. (He has done a lot of shady loans, including with Russian banks.)
If we had access to his full tax returns, if his assets were put in a blind trust, we might find out some of this information. Something he seems very unwilling to do.
Washington was not only one of the wealthiest men in the country, but he made sure he was adequately recompensed in office; pulling down 10% of the new country’s GDP.
He lived in modest surroundings, but most expensively. Only the best wines.
As was also a passion for Jefferson, he had a record number of slaves and they were essentially working to supply him with imported French wine.
The rest of the 19th century presidents were more of the simple bourgeoisie, not massively well off but comfortable enough with modest slave plantations or railroad lawyering income; whilst the poorest president was probably Truman, before and especially after, his presidency.
Except for the millions he inherited.
Trump’s wealth is not “his own”. He got it from his father, and if he had just invested his inheritance in an index fund, he’d be worth more now than what he claims.
That’s not very accurate. Trump inherited an unknown amount from his father, whose estate at his death in 1989 was variously valued at between $100 million to $300 million, with the payout to Donald and his sibs possibly $20 million.
And even before that, by some estimates Trump started with $40 million when he was running one of Fred’s companies, but that is admittedly speculative.
However, the Donald himself cops to a start-up loan of $1,000,000 from his dad, in the late 60’s or early 70’s. That’s hardly a sign of a self-made man, when you start with Daddy loaning you a cool million.
This statement might give the false impression that Trump became wealthy on his own initiative. In fact, his father Fred Trump was a wealthy New York real estate developer (although Donald should be credited with expanding that operation into Manhattan). Fred Trump’s father (Donald’s grandfather) is actually the original success story in the family, as he was a German immigrant who made a lot of money in hotels during the Alaskan gold rush.
It may be correct to assert that Donald Trump expanded his family’s wealth, but he did not create it all on his own.
eta: ninjas beat me to it.
Especially considering a million dollars in 1969 is the equivalent of $6.6 million today.
And, if you actually look at what Trump said under oath when deposed, he borrowed $9.6 million from Pops, not $1 million. (details, details) He also inherited money from his father.
He wants to be seen as self-made, but he very much wasn’t.
It’s not that uncommon amongst ordinary Americans: Bill Gates’ grandfather set him up with a million dollar trust fund the night he was born, this would have become a respectable sum by his 21st birthday — whis is what Mitt Romney had to wait for to be given his first million by his family ( he has employed the talents wisely, and has set up a $100 million trust fund for his sons ).
The Roosevelt family may have had a lot of wealth but Franklin Roosevelt didn’t belong to a particularly wealthy branch of the family. He was rich but not immensely so. Hoover, for example, was significantly richer than Roosevelt when the two men ran against each other in 1932.
I think we may be operating with different definitions of “ordinary Americans” here.
Indeed. The only I’m expecting to get is the pleasure of emptying out my folks’ garage. Even there I’m sure I’m ahead of lots of people whose parents don’t even have a house.
As commented above, we have no reason to believe that his net worth is even positive. He lives like a billionaire, but is he. Gates’s wealth was made by MS and I don’t think his inheritance played much, if any, part in this. What his father’s wealth made possible was for him to go to a private school that could afford a PDP-8 (IIRC) and allow him to learn to program and then send him to Harvard. If only he had run, but he is too smart for that.
His father also broke the law buying $3.5 million in casino chips with no intent to gamble or turn them in to keep the casino afloat. I would include that bail out in his “family money”.
[QUOTE=Hari Seldon]
As commented above, we have no reason to believe that his net worth is even positive. He lives like a billionaire, but is he. Gates’s wealth was made by MS and I don’t think his inheritance played much, if any, part in this. What his father’s wealth made possible was for him to go to a private school that could afford a PDP-8 (IIRC) and allow him to learn to program and then send him to Harvard. If only he had run, but he is too smart for that.
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Perhaps, but the beauty of being a Trust Fund Baby is that you can try, and fail utterly, but you still won’t be eating out of a sardine can by the light of a guttering candle at the end of the day.
:dubious: Yeah, one grandmother got me $100 worth of savings bonds for my christening, the other one left me her car when she died. I also got a box of WWII medals & a rifle when my grandfather died.