In May 2010, The Atlantic calculated the net worth of all 43 American presidents, from Washington to Obama (and reminded readers that Grover Cleveland was president twice), JFK’s $1 billion estate (in today’s dollars) topped the list. We were curious where Harry Truman landed and weren’t surprised to discover that his net worth at the time of his death in December 1972 placed him in the lowest income bracket. Of our 20th and 21st century chief executives, only the estates of Wilson, Coolidge and Truman were worth less than $1 million. We suspect this would be a point of pride for Mr. Truman, who once declared, “I would much rather be an honorable public servant and known as such than to be the richest man in the world”.
