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The 10 Best U.S. Presidents for Financial Innovation and Market PerformanceThe 10 Best U.S. Presidents for Financial Innovation and Market Performance

Which commanders in chief were the most committed to creating innovative and well-regulated markets?

John Kador

July 2, 2020

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The financial markets we enjoy today have the fingerprints of every modern U.S. president. Presidents of both parties have introduced innovations and reforms that make the U.S. markets the most robust and trusted in the world.

But, which presidents were the most committed to creating innovative and well-regulated markets? Wealth Management ranked the 10 presidents boldest in their recognition that markets that protect investors serve everyone’s interests.

To make it a bit easier, we considered presidents from Benjamin Harrison (earlier presidents presided over a country that didn’t have a significant national financial market) to Barack Obama. (Donald Trump’s administration is too recent to properly evaluate.)

Since Harrison was elected in 1889, 21 presidents have occupied the White House. These rankings are limited to the 10 presidents’ domestic financial policies and do not consider their responses to other challenges. To make things even more interesting, we factored into our rankings the annualized compound market performance for each president’s years in office. Before we begin, see if you can guess the president the editors ranked first in influence. 

About the Author

John Kador

John Kador is a business author focused on leadership, finance, and technology.  He is the author of over 15 books and has been a contributing editor to Wealth Management since 1995.  He received an MS degree in public relations from The American University and a BA in English from Duke University.  He lives in Lewisburg, PA.  Contact him on his website, www.jkador.com.