President’s Day Reflection; Our Wealthiest Commanders in Chief

Stumbled across an article this morning that listed the top 10 richest presidents, and was surprised to see that neither Bush made the list.  In fact, only 1 living president is in the all-time top 10.

But lets start off with the richest president of all time.  George Washington, according to this article in Wallstreet 24/7, which puts his inflation adjusted worth at about $525 Million.  His salary was 2% of the total U.S. budget in 1789.  Last year's U.S. budget was $3.8 Trillion.

Lyndon Johnson, whose conversations we listened to this morning (lining up free pants and free beauty services for his family and staff) is 6th on this list with about $98 Million as his worth.  Pretty good coin for a guy who call himself a "Salaried Employee" short on funds.

So who is the living President on the top ten richest list?  Bill Clinton.  The 42nd Commander in Chief 's $100 million is above Johnson, and just behind James Madison. So he is in the top 5, and getting richer, commanding huge dollars for speaking engagements, consulting, and book writing.  All this from an 'Aw Shucks' Hope, AK kid with big dreams.

Interesting detail from this article is how JFK would be on this list, but never received his family fortune, and the number was split between all his brothers.