U.S. Inflation Rate by President: From Truman to Biden

A president’s actions can play a role in influencing inflation. However, because inflation is a complex phenomenon driven by a range of factors, the relationship between policies and prices is not always straightforward.

Inflation is generally among the top concerns for consumers as it makes everyday expenses, such as gas, groceries, and utilities, more expensive. As prices increase, purchasing power decreases, meaning consumers get less for more money. 

Let’s explore how inflation has fluctuated throughout different presidential administrations.

The President’s Role in Inflation

When inflation is high, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) uses monetary policy to slow the economy down by adjusting the federal funds rate range, which influences interest rates, and makes borrowing money more expensive for consumers and businesses. The Federal Reserve has a target annual inflation rate of 2% over the long term, and it uses monetary policy to keep inflation in check and stabilize the economy when inflation appears to be rising. The Fed, economists, and governments closely monitor the inflation rate to determine whether any action is needed to stabilize the economy.

So, if the FOMC sets the target rate range to influence inflation, how much control does the president have over inflation, and how have the actions of presidents impacted the inflation rate over the years?

The president appoints the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and the Senate approves their appointments. There are seven governors sitting on the FOMC alongside the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and four other Reserve Bank presidents who rotate seats on the committee every year. Thus, part of the president’s impact on inflation is tied to who they appoint as governors, one of which is the committee chair, and two of which are vice chairs.

Fiscal policies and actions taken by the president and their administration also affect inflation. Below are the average year-over-year inflation rates, sorted by president, along with a brief overview of the events and economic conditions that contributed to these numbers.

Inflation Influencers

Inflation can be caused by the president’s actions and the tools the Federal Reserve uses, but generally, each entity takes actions to combat it rather than increase its rate. However, if it appears the inflation rate might drop below the Fed’s target rate, it can implement policies to increase inflation. The legislative bodies can also implement policies and laws that affect inflation, such as tax cuts or expansionary policies.

Rising labor and material costs or shortages, rising wages, housing market changes, demand and supply relationships, wars, trade issues, and much more are generally the primary causes of inflation rather than the president and their administration.

Harry S. Truman (1949–1953)

Average YOY Inflation Rate (1948-1953 due to data availability): 3.14%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under Harry S. Truman (limited by data to 1948–1953) was 3.14%. While president, World War II ended in Europe when Germany surrendered, and the first and second atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Truman dealt with veteran homelessness as they returned from the war and couldn’t find jobs.

The wartime economy needed to shift from wartime to peacetime production, which meant, among other things, removing the wage and price controls implemented under the Price Control Act of 1942. Truman initially opposed this action, believing that removing price controls would initiate runaway inflation. However, in November 1946, he signed an executive order removing all price and wage controls (except on rent).

Truman also signed the Employment Act of 1946 to increase the federal government’s responsibility for ensuring economic stability (currently one of the key responsibilities of the Federal Reserve). By 1950, Truman had succeeded in raising the minimum wage, increasing public housing programs, and expanding Social Security.

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961) 

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 1.33%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under President Dwight D. Eisenhower was 1.33%. Eisenhower ended the Korean War and had three recessions during his two terms in office. While inflation remained relatively stable and low through the 1950s, curbing inflation was a priority for the Eisenhower administration, as there was still an overall fear of inflation among Americans in the wake of the Korean War.

Eisenhower’s administration did not stimulate the economy during these times in order to keep postwar inflation at bay. Eisenhower wanted economic growth without inflation and stuck to contractionary fiscal policies, as he believed that having a budget surplus was the way to maintain low inflation.

John F. Kennedy (1961–1963)

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 1.16%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under President John F. Kennedy was 1.16%. Inflation remained relatively low from the end of the 1950s into the mid-1960s, a period known for overall price stability. Kennedy’s administration helped end the 1960 recession by increasing spending and proposing tax cuts to stimulate the economy. 

Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969)

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 2.79%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under President Lyndon B. Johnson was 2.79%. Sworn in just two hours after Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, Johnson signed the tax cuts Kennedy proposed into law.

While the Johnson administration’s expansionary measures boosted jobs and businesses, inflation ticked back up in the mid-’60s. Inflation rose to an annual average of 4.50% in 1966 and hit an 18-year high of 5.75% in 1969.

Richard Nixon (1969–1974)

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 6.01%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under President Richard Nixon was 6.01%. Inflation rose higher by the end of the 1960s after nearly two decades of relative price stability. While Nixon aimed to cool inflation without causing a recession, the Nixon administration’s economic policies led to a decade of stagflation, resulting from economic contraction and double-digit inflation.

The value of the dollar also fell during Nixon’s presidency. The aftereffects of Nixon’s economic policies are known as the Nixon Shock. Inflation under Nixon is the third-highest out of the presidents on this list.

Gerald Ford (1974–1977)

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 8.11%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under President Gerald Ford was 8.011%—the second-highest on this list. The Ford administration inherited stagflation from Nixon’s time, cut taxes, and reduced regulation to stabilize the economy. While these policies ended the recession, inflation continued to soar.

Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 9.85%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under President Jimmy Carter was 9.85%, the highest inflation rate among U.S. presidents so far. Stagflation persisted from the Nixon and Ford years, exacerbated by an energy crisis that led to skyrocketing gas prices and shortages. While higher energy prices fueled inflation, core inflation (excluding volatile food and energy prices) remained high through the 1970s.

During Carter’s term, the misery index—which is the unemployment rate plus inflation—reached a record high of 21.98%. The Carter administration’s methods to cool inflation, which included reducing the budget deficit and deregulation to increase competition and limit price increases, were thwarted by a surge in energy inflation in 1979, which pushed inflation over 13% by the end of the year.

Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) 

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 4.68%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under President Ronald Reagan was 4.68%. To combat the soaring and stubborn inflation of the previous decade, the Federal Reserve increased the fed funds rate to more than 19% in 1981, with many months during Reagan’s terms seeing rates of over 6%.

The Reagan administration’s response to the persistent stagflation was to introduce economic policies that called for widespread tax cuts, more military spending, decreased social spending, and deregulation of domestic markets. These policies, known as Reaganomics, helped bring inflation down, but critics of the policies claim they added to the national debt and deficit levels and also widened the wealth gap.

George H.W. Bush (1989–1993) 

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 4.81%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under President George H.W. Bush was 4.81%. Inflation ticked up briefly from 1989 to 1991 as gas prices increased at the start of the first Gulf War. The Bush administration also faced a recession caused by the Savings & Loan Crisis, which lasted from 1990 to 1991.

Bill Clinton (1993–2001)

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 2.61%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under President Bill Clinton was 2.61%. Clinton faced no recessions or major wars during his two terms in office. Inflation also remained relatively low during this time.

The Clinton administration and policies, known as Clintonomics, lowered the U.S. national debt and created a budget surplus of over $236 billion by fiscal year 2000.

George W. Bush (2001–2009)

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 2.48%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under President George W. Bush was 2.48%. Bush faced the 2008 Great Recession, considered the most significant economic downturn since the 1930s Great Depression. Inflation fell to 0.1% in December 2008 and dipped to negative levels on several occasions (deflation, or negative inflation) until October 2009.

The Bush administration sent out tax rebate checks to provide relief from the Great Recession. Bush also faced the 9/11 terrorist attacks (2001) and Hurricane Katrina (2005).

Barack Obama (2009–2017)

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 1.46%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under President Barack Obama was 1.46%. Inflation remained relatively low during Obama’s two terms in office.

Having inherited the economy during the Great Recession, Obama introduced the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), passed by Congress, and included $831 billion in government spending to end the Great Recession. The move, part of what’s now known as Obamanomics, was controversial at the time, with its role in ending the 2008 financial crisis still debated today.

Donald Trump (2017–2021)

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 2.46%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under President Donald Trump (in his first term) was 2.46%. Inflation remained low during Trump’s presidency.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, bringing a brief but severe recession along with it, the Trump administration declared a state of emergency and passed stimulus measures such as the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in an attempt to provide relief to individuals and businesses. The economic policies followed by the first Trump administration are now known as Trumponomics.

Joe Biden (2021–2025)

Average YOY Inflation Rate: 4.95%

The average year-over-year inflation rate under Joe Biden was 4.95%. Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package to help the country recover from COVID-19. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic recovery and the soaring gas prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, inflation rose to record levels not seen since the 1980s. Inflation peaked at 9.1% year-over-year in June 2022, the highest increase in 40 years.

The Fed responded by raising interest rates 11 times in an attempt to cool the stubborn inflation. While inflation did come down from its 2022 peak in 2023, it remained above the Fed’s 2% target for his term. In September 2024, the Fed made its first rate cut in four years. Biden’s economic policies are now referred to as Bidenomics.

The Bottom Line

While a president’s actions and choices for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors can affect inflation, there are many other factors that must be weighed when evaluating the root causes behind price increases.

The president does influence fiscal policy, and each president’s economic policies—such as tax cuts, military spending, and government aid—certainly do affect the economy. However, many external factors outside a president’s control—such as war, economic downturn, and public health crises—also contribute to inflation.