claim: "the only time in our history when the debt has been higher than this was the end of world war ii."
author: david cote
evidence_1: the history of the united states public debt started with federal government debt  incurred during the american revolutionary war by the first u.s treasurer,  michael hillegas, after its formation in 1789. the united states has continuously  had a fluctuating public debt since then, ... public debt as a percentage of gdp  fell rapidly in the post-world war ii ...
evidence_2: nov 13, 2012 ... in addition, interest on these certificates had often been paid in ... the debt-to- gdp ratio hit its all-time record of 113% by war's end. ... deficits exploded,  breaking with the us tradition of only running ... for instance, in 2009, outlays  increased to more than 25% of gdp, the highest level since world war ii.
evidence_3: feb 16, 2016 ... through most of its history, the federal government did not have the ... today's  national debt is big by historical standards, but it has been bigger. ... that is many  times higher than the historical average, though it is not the highest in history. to  fund the wwii war effort, the u.s. racked up a debt that peaked at ...
evidence_4: apr 9, 2018 ... the federal budget deficit rises substantially, boosting federal debt to ... to the  size of the economy, though at a high level by historical standards. ... cbo's  projections, especially its economic projections, are even more uncertain than ....  the only time since world war ii when the average deficit has been so ...
evidence_5: charts and history of us federal government deficit and debt, with links to the ...  the highest federal debt in us history was 119.0% gdp in 1946 just after world  war ii. ... war with a federal debt, the united states only went into debt to pay for  its ... by the 1830s the revolutionary war debt had been paid off—just in time for  ...