Since  9/11, the United States’ debt has increased drastically. Each year’s deficit takes into account budgeted spending and anticipated revenue from proposed tax cuts. The president can reduce the deficit by spending these funds instead of inducing additional ones.

So which president has acquired the most debt?

The answer is Barack Obama.

The deficit grew the most dollar-wise during Obama’s terms in office. Obama added $6.617 trillion, a 53 percent increase to the $11.657 trillion debt level attributable to President Bush at the end of his last budget, which was $253 billion and in only six years. During his first term, the cost of Social Security, Medicare and other mandatory spending continued to increase the U.S. debt.  The economic stimulus package added $787 billion. Obama’s tax cuts, passed in response to the 2008 financial crisis, also added $858 billion in less than two years. There was less federal income because of the decreased tax receipts during the recession.

Obama also sponsored the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Acts, which later contributed to the debt. The president’s budget included increased “defense spending to around $800 billion a year.”

Obama also increased military spending to more than $800 billion a year during the War on Terror fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. And even though troops had been withdrawn from Iraq in 2012 and Osama bin Laden totally eliminated in 2011, Obama requested a security budget of $895 billion that same year.

As the years are going by, the U.S. national debt is increasing tremendously. The national debt is still undetermined for the years 2015 and 2016 but considering the growing trend, it is likely that by the time Obama’s presidency ends, there will a drastic increase in the national debt leading to long-term negative effects on the United States economy.