Title: What is the National Debt Year By Year From 1790 to 2019? - TheStreet
Headings: What is the National Debt Year By Year From 1790 to 2019?
What is the National Debt Year By Year From 1790 to 2019?
The First Decades: 1790-1849
The Late 19th Century: 1850-1899
The Early 20th Century: 1900-1950
The Late 20th Century: 1950-1999
The Present Day

Content: 1950-1999
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Three things happened to the national debt during the 20th century's second half -- and one thing didn't. The Korean War simply doesn't appear in the national balance sheet. Unlike almost every other war in its history, America did not meaningfully borrow to pay for this conflict. Instead, borrowing only ticked up at a slightly above-average rate from 1951 to 1954. But between 1965 and 1978, two issues profoundly and permanently changed America's finances. First, in 1966 Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare program into law, creating one of the most expensive and enduring social programs in the country's history. And then from roughly 1965 to 1975, America fought the Vietnam War. Vietnam and Korea were the first two major undeclared wars in U.S. history, and Vietnam was by far the more expensive one. Without a declaration of war to put the country on a wartime economy, Congress paid for Vietnam by increasing the national debt. Over the course of the conflict, America's debt nearly doubled, growing from approximately $317 billion in 1965 to $620 billion in 1976.