Replies

Absolutely false: if you look at the real dollars, as a share of GNP, Reagan's deficits were lower than Ike's and nowhere close to FDR's; and as a share of GNP, the national debt under Reagan was lower than JFK, LBJ, Ike, Truman, and FDR.

See the charts in my book, "The Entrepreneurial Adventure."

The following table shows the deficits as a share of GDP from 1940 to 1961 (Eisenhower's budgets were 1954 through 1961) and from 1982 through 1989 (Reagan's budgets):

RECEIPTS, OUTLAYS, AND SURPLUSES OR DEFICITS(-)
           (percentage of GDP)

        Total    Total  Unified 
Year Receipts  Outlays  Deficit 
---- --------  -------  ------- 
1940      6.8      9.8     -3.0 
1941      7.6     12.0     -4.3 
1942     10.1     24.3    -14.2 
1943     13.3     43.6    -30.3 
1944     20.9     43.6    -22.7 
1945     20.4     41.9    -21.5 
1946     17.6     24.8     -7.2 
1947     16.5     14.8      1.7 
1948     16.2     11.6      4.6 
1949     14.5     14.3      0.2 
1950     14.4     15.6     -1.1
1951     16.1     14.2      1.9 
1952     19.0     19.4     -0.4 
1953     18.7     20.4     -1.7 
(Eisehower)
1954     18.5     18.8     -0.3 
1955     16.6     17.3     -0.8 
1956     17.5     16.5      0.9 
1957     17.8     17.0      0.8 
1958     17.3     17.9     -0.6 
1959     16.1     18.7     -2.6 
1960     17.9     17.8      0.1 
1961     17.8     18.4     -0.6 
 :
(Reagan)
1982     19.1     23.1     -4.0 
1983     17.5     23.5     -6.0 
1984     17.4     22.2     -4.8 
1985     17.7     22.9     -5.1 
1986     17.4     22.4     -5.0 
1987     18.4     21.6     -3.2 
1988     18.2     21.3     -3.1 
1989     18.4     21.2     -2.8 

Source: Budget of the United States Government, FY 2006,
        Historical Table 1.1

As a percentage of GDP, the deficit was very high through 1946, the end of the Second World War. However, it reached a maximum of 2.6% of GDP under Eisenhower, less than every one of Reagan's deficits.