Sex & Politics: Hard Data

A comparison of economic indicators during the administrations of presidents (since FDR) alleged to have conducted affairs while in office (right column) and those thought to have remained faithful while serving.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Truman, Eisenhower, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, and Clinton
Average annual increase in GNP
(constant dollars) 1
+2.17% +7.34%
Average annual change in national debt as
percentage of GDP (constant dollars) 2
+2.08% -2.50%
Average annual change in unemployment 1 +0.19% -1.65%
Average annual change in median family income 3 +1.60% +3.10%
Percentage of Americans who trust the federal government to do the right thing “most of the time” or “just about always” 4 +39.70% +50.20%
1Data available from 1933 to 1996. 2Data available from 1945 to 1996. 3Data available from 1945 to 1993. 4Data available from 1958 to 1996. All data from Vital Statistics on American Politics and American National Election Studies, 1952-1996.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate