Who are the Richest Presidents In History In Today’s Dollars?
So, off the top of your head, who is the wealthiest President in American history? Easy peasy. Donald Trump, right? Billionaire businessman. Not so fast. What if we convert the value of a dollar in, say, 1785, to today's bucks? How much would George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, with their massive tracts of Virginia land and other holdings, be worth today?
And what about Presidential cousins Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, both heirs to one of the greatest family fortunes ever? How much would those Roosevelt railroad dollars, millions and millions a hundred years ago, have increased in value?
And speaking of family money, what about our 35th President, John F. Kennedy? His father made nearly half-a-billion selling liquor - okay, bootlegging - during America's Prohibition Era. How much would those 1920s bucks get you in 2022?
And interestingly, there are a few (very few) of our nation's leaders who didn't amass millions before or after their terms in office. The "poorest" of the Presidents? Harry Truman, Calvin Coolidge, Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln.
But, for better or worse, of our nation's 46 Chief Executives the vast majority have been men of extreme wealth. Here are the Top 10.