During the 2012 Presidential campaign, wealth was made a major issue. You could publish a novel longer than "Les Miserables" by simply compiling all the articles addressing Mitt Romney's wealth, and could use all the articles addressing it in a positive light for a single chapter. Unfortunately, very few questions were asked, and instead most people denigrated their intellectual honesty by simply shotgunning wild claims and hoping some of them would stick. Through it all, it was implied that Mitt Romney's wealth was bad and should be a major consideration when evaluating his ability to be President. But why? Does wealth prevent one from effectively leading people from all walks of life? Does wealth insulate a man from the privations and struggles of the average American? Does wealth prevent a man from connecting to and understanding those around him?
If the answer to those questions is yes, then you'd be surprised who some of the absolute worst presidents are in our history--ones who supposedly didn't have a clue about the average American and apparently couldn't have cared less. Beginning with our first president, George Washington, our nation was led by out of touch, arrogant men who couldn't have cared less about the plight of the average citizen until James Buchanan reached the White House, and ironically he is considered the worst president in history more than any other. Prior to Buchanan, all 14 President's were millionaires with vast wealth. George Washington, the father of our country and often considered one of the 3 greatest presidents, must not have been so great--he was our second wealthiest president worth well over $500 million. Thomas Jefferson, the author of our nation's founding document was worth nearly $250 million. Were those men out of touch? Did they fail to connect to those in the poorer ranks of Americans? Of course, the first few Presidents were known to be wealthy aristocrats, at least until that all changed with the arrival of Old Hickory, the first President believed to represent the common man and not come from the wealthy aristocratic class, Andrew Jackson. But wait--worth $120 million, more than his 3 predecessors? Indeed, and with over 300 slaves to boot.
As one moves to the 20th century, we find another slew of ineffective, greedy leaders who couldn't care less about the plight of us poor Americans. Leading the charge is the wealthiest of all Presidents, born into a family worth twice as much as George Washington, and that was John F. Kennedy, whose family's estate was worth well over $1 billion (his daughter and only surviving immediate family member was recently revealed to be worth $500 million after keeping her wealth a secret her whole life, her wealth primarily coming from trust accounts from her father and grandfather). Considering other out of touch Presidents, one would certainly have to add both Roosevelt's to the list, both Teddy and Franklin, who were worth $125 million and $65 million, respectively. Looking to the same era, one can't help but remember Warren G. Harding, often portrayed as an elite, wealthy businessman who was out of touch with the American people--of course, his meager worth didn't even top a single million, nor did Calvin Coolidge, whose supposed antipathy towards wealth prevented him from reigning in the rising stock market during the '20s because of his comfort with wealth, which he ironically never had himself, as his worth was also less than a million and contained primarily in his single home.
So who was our last president that wasn't a millionaire? You have to go back 60 years--to Harry S. Truman. Yes, even the down to earth peanut farmer Jimmy Carter was worth a pretty penny, or more precisely, $7 million worth. All told, only nine presidents have not had enough net worth to be considered millionaires, including Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, and Wilson, amongst the others already listed. Perhaps the more important question then should not be about the wealth of a man, but how he uses his wealth. Too bad the mainstream media wasn't smart enough to ask that question during the election and instead concocted negative stories where none existed. Mitt Romney tax evader? Mitt Romney illegal banking practices? Mitt Romney caring more about his wealth than people? Stories negatively answering those stories were blasted to the American people without any regard for the wealth of evidence to the contrary. So called reporters instead chose to rely on here-say that proved the point they most agreed with rather than use the truth to prove they were wrong. In part 2 of this article, I will talk about the ways in which wealth has affected and been used by some of our former Presidents.
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