When was the last time the United States paid off its national debt?

The last time the United States paid off its national debt was 1835. The U.S. paid off its entire debt in January 1835. It began to accrue new debt in January 1836. The U.S. debt on January 1, 1836 was approximately $37,000 (US Dollars). It was President Andrew Jackson who was the last U.S. President that actually balanced the federal budget and paid off the national debt.

President Jackson has been the only president to preside over the total elimination of all remaining national debt while having a balanced federal budget. President Jackson was in a situation that some other presidents could only hope to obtain. Many presidents have presided over balanced budgets (President Clinton in 1998). The balanced budgets have occurred when the government takes in more revenue than it spends. But a balanced budget doesn’t necessarily mean no debt. Old debt can carried over from previous years. Under Andrew Jackson, no debt was carried over in 1835.

Debt has been a part of the U.S. since its beginning. The U.S. government first found itself in debt in 1790, following the Revolutionary War. Since then, U.S. debt has been fueled over the centuries by war, economic recession, and inflation. Economists and fiscal policy analysts now tell us that the action taken in 1835 will be very hard, if not almost impossible, to repeat.