If elected, Romney might be richest US president in over 200 years

[Mr. Morden]

I just thought of this after posting in the fundraising thread.  Here's a list of the wealthiest US presidents ("which the authors admit is predicated on some big assumptions and gaps in the record "), if you inflation-adjust their fortunes to 2010 dollars:

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/net-worth-of-u-s-presidents/#

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But as it says, one probably shouldn't count JFK as #1, since he never had a chance to inherit that $1 billion fortune.  So let's say the real top two are Washington at $525 million and Jefferson at $212 million.

Romney's fortune is somewhere between $190 and $250 million:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44125985/ns/politics-decision_2012/t/romneys-wealth-high-million/#.TpoQec0vrVV

So he'd potentially be the richest president since at least Jefferson, if not Washington.

I'm not posting this to suggest it's a good or bad thing.  Just thought it was interesting.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Of course, ex-Presidents like the Bushes and Clinton are incredibly wealthy nowadays.

[NVGonzalez]

Again see my sig

[SufferedMore ThanJesus]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting more and more excited about voting for Mitt Romney next year. I cannot wait! He is so handsome and rich (and I'm totally not gay, because that's a sin), Mitt is like the Knight in shining armor coming to rescue the princess in one of those medival fairy tale stories, and the princess in this case is America! GO MITT GO!! RESUE US, THE PRINCESS!!

[President von Cat]

we will see how that flys in the general . i remember in 2008 mccain was attacked about how many homes him and his wife owned

Yeah, you can bet that the Obama camp will carry the baton from the Perry campaign: paint Romney as an out of touch, rich, corporate asshole who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Most of it that is true, so it shouldn't be too hard of a sale.

[Middle-aged Europe]

I smell the ugly scent of class warfare in this thread.

[memphis]

Washington's and Jefferson's assets were largely land and slaves. Hard to compare to today.

[I Am Feeblepizza.]

Heh, everybody knows that Andrew Jackson's populist rhetoric was just a ploy to maintain power for the Democratic Party and prevent debate over slavery.

As for Romney's wealth, it shouldn't really be an issue. It just shows that his family did something productive and earned wealth in return.

[NHI]

I don't really care if Romney will be the richest president, it's not an issue.. If anything it should serve as an example how success in America and what people can strive for.

[J. J.]

I think after JFK, it is not an issue (and really shouldn't be).

[Averroës Nix]

Of course, ex-Presidents like the Bushes and Clinton are incredibly wealthy nowadays.

If you look at the list that the Times article links to, you can see that the book-touring, public-speaking set is an order of magnitude less wealthy than Romney.

[Link]

I think after JFK, it is not an issue (and really shouldn't be).

In the case of some candidates I beg to differ.

[GMantis]

Then there's really no chance of him not winning the nomination.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Then there's really no chance of him not winning the nomination.

...unless this thing goes into a brokered convention, which might happen because a large portion of the Republican base isn't sold on Romney but all the alternatives are severely flawed.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Would it be somehow possible to measure the poorest President ever?

[Averroës Nix]

Would it be somehow possible to measure the poorest President ever?

Excluding those who went bankrupt (e.g. Grant), Truman is the poorest whom I can think of.

[tpfkaw]

They must not be adjusting for the inflation caused in large part by the one who grew up on a 1300-acre estate and had all his political campaigns entirely financed by J.P. Morgan.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Jimmy Carter wasn't poor by any means, but he was probably the poorest president in recent times.

[Politico]

Jimmy Carter wasn't poor by any means, but he was probably the poorest president in recent times.

Nixon and Clinton were less well-off, and came from less privileged families, than Carter. Reagan also came from a poor family, unlike Carter, but was obviously wealthy many years prior to his three runs for president.

[RogueBeaver]

Poorest in recent memory would be Harry Truman. He told McCormack in the mid-'50s that were it not for some land and a small inheritance from his mother, he would "practically be on relief." When they created the presidential pension, Hoover accepted it as a token so his friend HST wouldn't be embarrassed.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Jimmy Carter wasn't poor by any means, but he was probably the poorest president in recent times.

Nixon and Clinton were less well-off, and came from less privileged families, than Carter. Reagan also came from a poor family, unlike Carter, but was obviously wealthy many years prior to his three runs for president.

Both Nixon and Clinton were pretty well-off lawyers by the time they became President.

[Politico]

Jimmy Carter wasn't poor by any means, but he was probably the poorest president in recent times.

Nixon and Clinton were less well-off, and came from less privileged families, than Carter. Reagan also came from a poor family, unlike Carter, but was obviously wealthy many years prior to his three runs for president.

Both Nixon and Clinton were pretty well-off lawyers by the time they became President.

I never said they were not well-off. I said they were less well-off than Carter, who was better off than them via the family business he inherited (i.e., 360-acre peanut farm). Carter unarguably has a more privileged background than Nixon and Clinton. Why he would even be in the conversation of poorest presidents is beyond me...

[Stranger in a strange land]

Jimmy Carter wasn't poor by any means, but he was probably the poorest president in recent times.

Nixon and Clinton were less well-off, and came from less privileged families, than Carter. Reagan also came from a poor family, unlike Carter, but was obviously wealthy many years prior to his three runs for president.

Both Nixon and Clinton were pretty well-off lawyers by the time they became President.

I never said they were not well-off. I said they were less well-off than Carter, who was better off than them via the family business he inherited (i.e., 360-acre peanut farm). Carter unarguably has a more privileged background than Nixon and Clinton. Why he would even be in the conversation of poorest presidents is beyond me...

Nixon, Clinton, LBJ, Reagan, and Obama all came from humbler beginnings than Carter, but also had more assets at the time they assumed the presidency. Ford had been a congressman for twenty-five years prior to his appointment to the vice presidency, and was at very least upper middle class. The Bushes were an old money family, and JFK was the scion of a political dynasty.

Poorest in recent memory would be Harry Truman. He told McCormack in the mid-'50s that were it not for some land and a small inheritance from his mother, he would "practically be on relief." When they created the presidential pension, Hoover accepted it as a token so his friend HST wouldn't be embarrassed.

wow, crazy to think that Hoover was the only living former president for almost 20 years.

[Likely Voter]

Romney's liability isn't how rich he is but how he got rich. Expect Team Obama to paint Romney as part of the Wall Street excess that triggered the financial crisis and recession. That and trot out all the people that got laid off/outsourced at companies Bain Capital took over.

They are going to try to paint Romney as this...



with a bit of this...

[NVGonzalez]

Romney's liability isn't how rich he is but how he got rich. Expect Team Obama to paint Romney as part of the Wall Street excess that triggered the financial crisis and recession. That and trot out all the people that got laid off/outsourced at companies Bain Capital took over.

They are going to try to pain Romney as this...



with a bit of this...

Winner