Title: The Long Story of U.S. Debt, From 1790 to 2011, in 1 Little Chart - The Atlantic
Headings: The Long Story of U.S. Debt, From 1790 to 2011, in 1 Little Chart
Business
The Long Story of U.S. Debt, From 1790 to 2011, in 1 Little Chart
FREEDOM ISN'T FREE
CIVIL WAR
IN THE TRENCHES
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
WORLD WAR II
REAGONOMICS
W.
THE GREAT RECESSION
THE ROAD TO $16 TRILLION

Content: Unlike after World War I, the US never really tried  to pay down much of the debt it incurred during World War II. Still the  debt shrank in significance as the US economy grew. It would take the debt-to-GDP ratio until 1962 just to get back to where the US was before  the war. And with some fits and starts the debt load declined until hitting its recent low in 1974 at 24%, when the debt outstanding held by  the public was $343.7 billion ($1.61 trillion, in current dollars.) REAGONOMICS
Debt-to-GDP  began another upswing in the early 1980s, when the US fell into a particularly nasty recession, set off by the Federal Reserve under Paul Volcker, who raised interest rates to record heights in order to defeat inflation. Government receipts flattened thanks in part to the large, permanent tax cuts that served as one of the top accomplishments of President Ronald Reagan's first term. Spending jumped on both defense and social programs. Deficits exploded, breaking with the US tradition of only running large deficits during wartime. Debt-to-GDP began to climb and it hit a postwar peak of more than 49% in the early 1990s. In 1995, the publicly held debt outstanding was about $3.6 trillion (or $5.47 trillion ,  in today's money).