Abraham Lincoln was arguably America's greatest leader — but he might have also been our worst businessman. The presidency comes with prestige, but not always money, and these former leaders prove it.
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00:00Abraham Lincoln was arguably America's greatest leader, but he might also have been our worst
00:05businessman. Presidency comes with prestige, but not always money, and these former leaders
00:10prove it.
00:12Warren G. Harding entered the White House in 1921, having campaigned on returning normalcy
00:16after the tumultuous years of World War I. Prior to becoming president, he was known
00:21as a good fellow. He never bucked his party and went along to get along. During his time
00:26in the Senate, he was even known to skip votes so he wouldn't have to commit to a position.
00:30It worked. That complete lack of distinction made him the most acceptable choice for the
00:34Republican nomination in 1920.
00:37Once in office, though, Harding presided over one of the most corrupt administrations in
00:41the country's history. He only escaped having to deal with the negative publicity by dying
00:45of a heart attack in 1923. Harding was never directly implicated in any crimes, which may
00:51be a surprise, as he could have used the money.
00:54His peak net worth was about $1 million in today's money, but a lot of that came from
00:58his wife. Florence Harding came from money and had better business sense than her husband.
01:03She managed his businesses, including his newspaper, and helped make them successful.
01:07He had actually had a nervous breakdown, and Florence stepped up and ran the newspaper.
01:13She was an extremely savvy businesswoman.
01:16Calvin Coolidge was chosen by Warren G. Harding to be his vice president in 1920, and then
01:21unexpectedly became president when Harding passed away in 1923. Coolidge quickly became
01:25known as a pro-business chief executive, famously saying,
01:29"...the cheap business of the American people is business."
01:33But Coolidge was not a wealthy man. His father managed a general store, and Coolidge himself
01:38ran a small law practice until he was nearly 30, carving out a solid but unremarkable career.
01:43In 1900, he began his political career when he was appointed city solicitor in Northampton,
01:49but politics doesn't necessarily pay well. Coolidge earned $75,000 a year as president,
01:55but much of that went to cover his expenses in office.
01:58Most of Coolidge's net worth actually stemmed from his property in Massachusetts, a house
02:02called The Beaches, as well as an advance he received for his autobiography after he
02:05left office. But Coolidge still had to work for a living, writing a newspaper column until
02:10the day he died of a heart attack in 1933.
02:14The 25th president was a small-town boy with what USA Today calls no significant inheritance.
02:20After serving in the Army during the Civil War, William McKinley became a lawyer, launching
02:24his political career in 1869 when he was 27 years old. He spent much of the rest of his
02:29life in public service, which explains why he never became particularly wealthy. The
02:33other reason he wasn't very rich was a combination of bad decisions and bad luck.
02:38After failing to secure re-election to the House of Representatives in 1890, McKinley
02:42recovered by getting elected governor of Ohio. He also co-signed a large loan for a
02:46friend of his. When the economic crisis of 1893 hit the country, his friend defaulted
02:51on the loan and sent McKinley into bankruptcy while he was governor. He asked some friends
02:55to help him sell off assets to make good on his debts, but instead they raised money on
02:59his behalf.
03:00That misfortune actually boosted his everyman cred, making him even more popular. He easily
03:05won re-election as governor in 1894 and was elected president in 1896. He was debt-free
03:11and comfortable again by the time he won re-election in 1900, only to be assassinated
03:15in 1901 a few months into his second term.
03:19Woodrow Wilson is the only Ph.D. to ever serve as president, but his focus on education as
03:24a career prior to politics pretty much guaranteed he wouldn't be particularly rich. The son
03:29of a small-town minister, Wilson worked as a lawyer for a while, then taught at Princeton
03:33where he earned $6,500 a year, the equivalent of about $187,000 in today's money. A nice
03:39annual salary, but it didn't make him rich.
03:43Wilson soon became president of Princeton University and used the position as a springboard
03:46to political power. When the Democratic Party wanted someone to run for New Jersey governor
03:50with a reputation for honesty — that they could easily control — they figured Wilson
03:55was perfect. But he wasn't so easy to control. He won the job easily, proving to be so dynamic
04:00and independent that his momentum carried him into the White House in 1912. There, he
04:05earned $75,000 a year.
04:07Wilson left office in 1921 just as the Roaring Twenties were taking off, but he wasn't able
04:11to capitalize on the booming economy. After having a stroke while still in office, he
04:16passed away in 1924 at the age of 67.
04:19Abraham Lincoln famously grew up dirt poor. Born in a log cabin and self-educated as a
04:24lawyer, he wasn't a great businessman. In 1832, he and a business partner bought a general
04:29store in New Salem, Illinois, and stocked it on a line of credit. That same year, he
04:34wrote,
04:35I was born and have ever remained in the most humble walks of life. I have no wealthy or
04:41popular relations to recommend me.
04:43The business failed. James M. McPherson wrote in his book Abraham Lincoln that Lincoln's
04:47partner drank up all the profits. Although Lincoln sold his share of the business when
04:51his partner died, Lincoln was sued for his half of the debt. He lost everything, even
04:56his horse.
04:57The disaster left Lincoln in deep debt for the next decade. He was able to stave off
05:01total poverty by working as a lawyer, but wasn't able to pay it off in full until he
05:05was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1847.
05:09Lincoln apparently learned from this, however, and became frugal with his salary. According
05:13to the University of Michigan, when he died in 1865, his estate was worth roughly $90,000,
05:19which is around $1.8 million in today's money.
05:23Andrew Johnson was a rough guy from a poor background who only became president when
05:26Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Johnson was born to illiterate parents in North Carolina.
05:31Living in a tiny house, he didn't learn to read himself until he was in his late teens.
05:36His father died when he was three, and his mother had to work to support the family.
05:40When he was 14, his mother and her new husband set him up with an apprenticeship to be a
05:44tailor, but Johnson ran away from home after a few years. When he returned, the family
05:48moved and he opened his own tailor shop.
05:50What saved Johnson from a life of poverty was his wife. Eliza Johnson encouraged Andrew
05:54to continue his education, helped him run his tailoring business, and supported his
05:58movement of politics. Suddenly, Johnson's humble beginnings and harsh personality became
06:02assets. He was a passionate debater and supporter of the common man over the rich. He rose steadily
06:08through the political ranks, first an alderman, then mayor of Greenville, Tennessee, and later
06:12as governor of that state.
06:14According to Britannica, by the time Johnson was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1856, he
06:19could be described as having achieved a measure of prosperity, which is kind of another way
06:23of saying, not rich.
06:26James Buchanan has shouldered a lot of blame for the outbreak of the Civil War, as preventing
06:30such a conflict was his main priority upon election. He failed. Buchanan was born in
06:35a log cabin. His father was a successful businessman, but not exactly wealthy. Buchanan himself
06:41became a lawyer, and a pretty good one, amassing a respectable fortune by the time he was 30
06:45years old.
06:46Not respectable enough for the family of his great love, Anne C. Coleman, though. The Coleman
06:50family accused Buchanan of pursuing her for her money, and when she tragically died young,
06:55they barred Buchanan from the funeral. Buchanan never got involved with anyone romantically
06:59ever again.
07:00Though he was never broke, a lifetime of public service with some lawyering on the side didn't
07:05make Buchanan rich. Being blamed for the Civil War didn't help anything, either. He published
07:10a book defending his actions, but it sold poorly, and he died a recluse in 1868.
07:15James Garfield may have been the poorest man to ever get elected president, and he is often
07:20called the last of our log cabin presidents. And he didn't like it. Garfield once said,
07:25"...to some men, the fact they came up from poverty is a matter of pride. I lament it
07:30sorely."
07:31Garfield had to work as a janitor and carpenter to pay his way through college. But for a
07:35man who hated being poor, Garfield didn't exactly chase wealth. After graduating, he
07:40worked as a teacher and a minister, and later became president of Hiram College. Oh, and
07:45he was a union general in the Civil War.
07:47His political career, though, was incredibly successful. He served nine terms as a congressman,
07:52and the job paid pretty well — between $5,000 and $7,500 a year, or somewhere between $112,000
07:58and $168,000 in today's money. And getting elected president wasn't bad either, as the
08:04job had recently seen a pay raise to $50,000 a year. But Garfield never got to see that
08:09payday. He was assassinated just a few months after taking office.
08:13Chester Arthur became president after James Garfield was assassinated. While Arthur never
08:18became fabulously wealthy, he made a comfortable living, first as a lawyer and then as a rising
08:22star in the Republican Party of New York. By 1870, Arthur was earning about $10,000
08:27a year as chief counsel to the New York City Tax Commission, which would be about $212,000
08:32today. Arthur knew how to live well beyond his means, though. After becoming president,
08:37he wasn't shy about the finer things, receiving $30,000 from Congress to hire Louis Comfort
08:42Tiffany to decorate the White House for him. Arthur never got rich, though. He was diagnosed
08:46with Bright's disease in 1882, which he kept a secret. His illness prevented him from doing
08:52much after leaving office, and he passed away in 1886, a modestly well-off man, but partly
08:58wealthy.
08:59William Henry Harrison, the ninth president, has the distinction of serving the least amount
09:03of time in the job. A military hero, Harrison was elected to the presidency when he was
09:08and made the dubious decision to go without hat or coat at his inauguration, which was
09:13frigidly cold. He died of pneumonia just a month into his term in 1841. According to
09:18USA Today, Harrison's peak net worth was in excess of $6 million, but he died virtually
09:24penniless. The youngest of seven children, Harrison inherited about 3,000 acres of good
09:28farmland from his father. But when he was appointed ambassador to Colombia in 1829,
09:33he was forced to manage the farm from a distance. Bad weather ruined him, and he had to sell
09:38everything to his brother. His sons also racked up considerable debts, which he attempted
09:42to pay and which put him further into the hole himself.
09:45The result was a man who was still heavily in debt by the time he became president. Congress
09:50even had to create a special pension for his wife to ensure she didn't starve to death,
09:54granting her $25,000 in free postage for life.
09:58The 18th president was a military genius, but pretty hopeless at business. According
10:03to PBS, Ulysses S. Grant struggled financially his whole life. Ron Chernow wrote in his book
10:07Grant that Grant washed out of the Army a decade before the Civil War due to his drinking.
10:12He often had to beg his hated father-in-law for loans and jobs to get by. Needless to
10:16say, becoming a national hero and serving two terms as president helped his finances.
10:21But after leaving the office, financial ruin struck again. In 1884, the investment firm
10:25he'd put his money in was revealed to be a scam. Grant was a wealthy man on paper, but
10:30it all vanished in the blink of an eye. At one point, his net worth was about $210. The
10:35rest of Grant's life was a scramble for money. This only intensified when he was diagnosed
10:40with throat and tongue cancer.
10:42Desperate not to leave his family destitute, he agreed to write his memoirs for the huge
10:45advance of $50,000 and a sweetheart royalty rate of 75%. Working night and day, he finished
10:51the book just days before he died.
10:54This was a truly heroic effort of Grant in agonizing pain, writing the memoirs. And he
11:00literally willed himself to stay alive.
11:03It was his final heroic act. The book was a runaway bestseller. Following his death,
11:07his widow Julia received $450,000 in royalties, the equivalent of nearly $15 million in today's
11:14money.
11:15Finally, the curious case of Harry S. Truman is an intriguing footnote to any conversation
11:20about presidential wealth. Truman is usually included on lists of the poorest U.S. presidents,
11:25and he did struggle financially for most of his life, starting with his humble beginnings
11:29in Missouri.
11:30Well, it's good to be back home, in what I call the center of the world, Independence,
11:37Missouri.
11:38His claims of poverty while in office moved Congress to raise the salary to $100,000.
11:42He was also the first president to receive a pension, and the first to sign up for Medicare.
11:47But was he actually rich?
11:49After leaving office, Truman sold the rights to his memoirs for $600,000, which would be
11:53more than $6 million in today's money.
11:57According to New York Magazine, Truman actively deceived Congress about his finances in order
12:00to get his pension. In fact, Truman's own will, drafted in 1953, showed a net worth
12:05of $650,000, nearly $7 million in today's money. By 1959, that had grown to $1.04 million,
12:14the equivalent of $9.7 million.
12:17So did a president famed for his straight-shooting honesty actually con the United States out
12:22of significant money? Pardon the pun, but that would be rich indeed.