Speaking of Presidents
Here's a list of all the U.S. Presidents in order of wealth. The ratings "...included factors such as land and property, income, inheritance, and book royalties in their calculation". No mention of inflation but I'm assuming it's included as the $4 to $500k some presidents accumulated would be a staggering amount in today's dollars.
One of those lists where they have a separate page for each president, unfortunately. but I'll be the spoiler for those not willing to work their way to the end: Wealthiest U.S. President was John F. Kennedy, although they note he was killed before he could take control of all his inheritance.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 7:10 AM
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1 Comments:
One significant problem with this wealth "list" is the use of land valuations. If you read the Wall St 24/7 site it kinda states that. Many of the earlier presidents were 'land poor'. Meaning, they owned a lot of land - speculation prices were cheap and highly leveraged - but not a lot of cash, or liquid assets to back that up. The land's value was closely tied into what it produced; like cotton or lumber. Wonder what valuation they assigned for slaves?
To put a value on Washington's or other early presidents' land based on 2010 prices is ridiculous as they never realized that value in their lifetimes.
I remember Reagan got paid $2 million just for showing up in Japan and mumbling a few words there after he left the WH. And the Bush family fortunes seem quite low. Perhaps off-shore holdings/investments aren't counted?
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