Explore the economic record of presidents, starting with Harry S Truman. Updated with recent data.
To examine the record of presidents regarding economics, I gathered data from several sources and present it in an interactive visualization.
Two examples show different views of the same data, in this case Continued Unemployment Claims as Percent of Labor Force. Chart 1a shows the value by the progress of each president’s term, showing how a statistic progresses from a common time base for each president. (Click charts for larger versions.)
Chart 2a shows the same data, but on one continuous timeline.
The extent to which presidents have influence or control over these matters is a matter of debate. Opinions usually depend on whether the economy is doing well or not, and which political party is in the White House.
To access the interactive visualization, click on Visualization: Presidential data explorer.