32nd President

Term: March 4, 1933 to April 12, 1945

Annualized Compound Market Performance:  6.2% per year 

Elected to four terms, Franklin Roosevelt had more opportunity to exert influence than any other president. His achievements are unparalleled. FDR almost single-handedly shifted the nation’s economic center of gravity from Wall Street, where it had been for over a century, to Washington, DC.  Perhaps the most significant of FDR’s financial innovations was his strategy of deficit-spending and pump-priming to get the nation out of the Great Depression. Every subsequent president has used this strategy, including the current administration in its attempt to stimulate the economy for the COVID-19 crisis. Other achievements:

► The Securities and Exchange Act, which created the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate financial markets; 

► The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, guaranteeing the savings of average citizens;

► The Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) that, along with the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) made it possible for millions of Americans to buy homes; and 

► The Glass-Steagall Act (part of the 1933 Banking Act), which prevented commercial banks from engaging in investment banking. (Most of its provisions were repealed in 1999, contributing to the Great Recession of 2008-2009.)

28th President

Term: March 4, 1913 to March 4, 1921

Annualized Compound Market Performance: 3.1% per year

Wilson supervised the passage of progressive legislative policies (The New Deal) unprecedented in U.S history. He also led the U.S. into World War I and championed The League of Nations. Among his innovations:

► The Federal Reserve Act of 1913. This Act established twelve regional reserve banks controlled by the Federal Reserve Board, a new federal agency whose members were appointed by the president;

► The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, which put more teeth into the Sherman Antitrust Act by defining and banning several anti-competitive practices;

► The Revenue Act of 1913, also known as the Underwood-Simmons Act, which not only lowered tariffs rates from 40 to 26 percent, but, more critically, established a federal income tax on income over $3,000 per year; and

► The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914, which created the FTC to regulate trademarks and brands.

26th President

Term: Sept. 14, 1901 to March 4, 1909

Annualized Compound Market Performance: 2.2% per year 

Taking office at age 42, Teddy Roosevelt remains the youngest person to become president. He emerged as a trustbuster and leader of the progressive movement. Roosevelt is the first president to succeed in marshalling the federal government to regulate big business to protect the welfare of society. His “Square Deal” promoted consumer protection, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. His accomplishments:

► The Elkins Act, which ended the practice of railroad companies granting shipping rebates to preferred customers;

► Breakup of the Northern Securities Company, a large railroad trust, for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act;

► The Department of Commerce and Labor (later separated into two cabinet departments); and

► The Pure Food and Drug Act (precursor to the Food and Drug Administration).

44th President

Term: January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2017

Annualized Compound Market Performance: 13.8% per year

Barack Obama earns points for navigating the country through the bubble in the housing industry and the resulting Great Recession of 2008-2009, which threatened a complete collapse of the entire economy. He mitigated some of the risk of future meltdowns and created a template for managing future financial crises. Obama’s achievements include: 

► The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act overhauled financial regulation in the aftermath of the financial meltdown for almost every part of the nation's financial services industry;

► Endorsing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) established by the George W. Bush administration;

► Directing $60 billion in TARP funds to General Motors and Chrysler, saving the automobile industry; and

► Stewarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, an $800-billion economic stimulus package.

23rd President

Term: March 4, 1889 to March 4, 1893

Annualized Compound Market Performance: -1.4% per year

Benjamin Harrison served one term, sandwiched between Grover Cleveland’s two non-consecutive terms. Harrison put big monopolies, such as John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust, in the cross-hairs of anti-trust legislation. Main achievements:

► The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the first federal law to regulate giant corporations. Despite its flaws, the legislation enabled future presidents. such as Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt to curb the ability of giant corporations to set prices and restrain competition; 

► The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890; and

► First president to preside over a federal budget of more than $1 billion.

30th President

Term: August 2, 1923 to March 4, 1929

Annualized Compound Market Performance: 26.1% per year 

Calvin Coolidge presided over the boom years of the Roaring Twenties.

In Coolidge’s five-and-a-half years in office, the Dow soared an incredible 266%, translating to compound annualized gains of 26.1% per year. His fiscal policy encouraged a speculation-driven over-heated economy and margin trading, policies which contributed to the Great Depression. His achievements include: 

► The Revenue Acts of 1924 and 1926, which sharply reduced income taxes, especially gift, excise, and inheritance taxes; and

► The Federal Radio Commission (later the Federal Communications Commission).

40th President

Term: January 20, 1981 to January 20, 1989

Annualized Compound Market Performance 10.2% per year

Ronald Reagan campaigned on cutting taxes and the federal budget, yet increasing defense spending. It was a recipe for deficit spending and inflation, which is what the nation received. Reagan gets points for supporting the tough anti-inflation policies of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker, a Carter appointee. These policies were politically painful, resulting in higher interest rates, yet Reagan accepted the necessity, even though it spurred a recession. Republican leaders urged Reagan to break with the Federal Reserve, but he refused to do so.

“Reaganomics” featured:

► Combatting inflation;

► Tax cuts and then tax increases;

► Deregulation;

► Higher retirement age for Social Security; and

► Increased payroll taxes.

34th President

Term: January 20, 1953 to January 20, 1961

Annualized Compound Market Performance 10.9% per year 

Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied forces in World War II, worked hard to balance the budget. Three of his eight budgets were in the black, the last president who can claim a similar achievement. Eisenhower:

► Embarked on the Interstate Highway System, a 41,000-mile road system, one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in American history;

► Expanded Social Security;

► Increased the minimum wage; and

► Created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

41st President

Term: January 20, 1989 to January 20, 1993

Annualized Compound Market Performance: 11.0% per year

President Bush presided over the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. The triumph of capitalism seemed complete. He dealt decisively to rescue and regulate the scandal-plagued savings and loan industry. His financial accomplishments included: 

► The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, giving the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) regulatory oversight over troubled savings and loans; and

► Creating the Resolution Trust Company to oversee the merger or liquidation of troubled banks.

42nd President

Term: January 20, 1993 to January 20, 2001

Annualized Compound Market Performance: 15.2% per year

Bill Clinton presided over the “dot-com” boom, ushering in the technology-driven world we have today. The emergence of the internet and a new breed of technology companies created a surge in prosperity and fundamentally reshaped the economy. The S&P 500 soared 210% during Clinton’s eight years, working out to annualized returns of 15.2%. He loses points for signing the Financial Services Modernization Act that repealed Glass-Steagall. The repeal of Glass-Steagall consolidated investment and retail banks and promoted high-risk speculation, which contributed to the 2008-2009 Great Recession.

31st President

Term: March 4, 1929 to March 4, 1933

Annualized Compound Market Performance: -30.8% per year

Historians judge Herbert Hoover to be one of worst presidents the U.S. ever had. Hoover took office just months before the 1929 crash that ushered in the Great Depression and a decade of the worst bear markets in U.S. history. That was bad luck. But Hoover made conditions worse by signing into law the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. Over a thousand economists warned him it would exacerbate things. It did, turning what might have been a modest recession into the worst depression in U.S. history. His stewardship of the Depression was hapless. President Hoover remains the worst president for financial innovation and the market performance during his administration reflects it: a 30.8% annualized compound loss.