Just been digging into something interesting about how inflation under presidents has actually played out over the past 70+ years, and the patterns are pretty wild when you zoom out.

So here's the thing - Americans are genuinely stressed about inflation right now. Latest polls show 62% of people think it's a very big problem, way ahead of other concerns like healthcare costs or climate change. Makes sense when you think about it hitting your wallet every time you go shopping.

But here's what got me thinking: how much can a president actually control inflation? Turns out it's way more complicated than people assume. Yeah, policy decisions matter - tax cuts, spending plans, stimulus packages - but then you get hit with stuff like wars, supply chain collapses, or oil embargoes that completely derail the playbook.

Let me walk through what inflation under presidents actually looked like. Eisenhower kept it at 1.4% average, partly because the Korean War ending helped stabilize things. Kennedy was even lower at 1.1%, using tax cuts and deficit spending to fuel growth without runaway prices. Then Johnson came in and kept spending, but Vietnam ramped up military costs and inflation started creeping up - hit 5.75% by the end of his term.

Nixon inherited that mess and it got worse - 5.7% average, stagflation nightmare. Ford tried fighting it with his Whip Inflation Now program in 1974, but the 1973 oil embargo was too much. He left office with inflation averaging 8%. Then Carter walked in and it just kept climbing - 9.9% average, the worst on the entire list. Oil crisis in 1979, lost confidence in institutions, global economic chaos. Brutal period.

Reagan's the interesting one though. When he took over, the country had been dealing with over a decade of high inflation and stagnation. His administration went hard on tax cuts, military spending, deregulation - Reaganomics basically. And it worked. Inflation dropped from 13.5% down to 4.1% between 1980 and 1988. Completely different trajectory.

After that, Bush Sr. kept it moderate around 4.3% despite the Gulf War and the S&L crisis. Clinton had a sweet spot - 2.6% average, peaceful period, no major conflicts, actually built a budget surplus. Bush Jr. had recessions in 2001 and 2008 that kept inflation down at 2.8%, but the low interest rates he pushed also fueled the housing bubble that led to the Great Recession. Obama came in during the crash, pushed $831 billion in stimulus, but still managed to keep inflation at just 1.4% average.

Trump started with recovery vibes, signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, then COVID hit everything. Passed the $2 trillion CARES Act for relief, but inflation under his term averaged only 1.9% despite the pandemic chaos.

Now Biden - his presidency has been defined by high inflation. Peaked at 9% in 2022, a 40-year high, then came down to around 3% by 2024. Supply chain issues from the pandemic and energy costs from the Ukraine situation are the main culprits. Current inflation is sitting at 2.9% as of recent data.

What strikes me most is how external shocks completely override presidential policy. You can have the best economic plan, but one oil embargo or pandemic and suddenly you're dealing with stagflation or deflation. The presidents who had the smoothest rides - Clinton, Obama early on - weren't necessarily smarter about policy, they just caught better breaks timing-wise.